5 ms·

I don't understand how this is desirable at all. It seems distracting and kinda creepy. But I'm also creeped out by those talking faces in the iPhone commercial

I don't understand how this is desirable at all. It seems distracting and kinda creepy. But I'm also creeped out by those talking faces in the iPhone commercials, so maybe I'm just way out of the loop on this matter due to being on the autism spectrum. I just don't want to know the faces my coworkers are making when I'm not talking to them, and I don't want to think about how they may be perceiving my face when I'm not talking to them.

dsaffy 7y ago
Thanks for the comment. I'm not sure it's for everyone. I also made an option for the avatar without the facial recognition, so it just grays out if your keyboard/mouse doesn't fire for 15s.
- sudosteph 7y ago
  The tech is actually quite cool. Like I could see it being used to make a game for kids that they "play" by trying to match expressions or something. I just personally would not feel comfortable working at a job where usage of this was expected, even if I could manually control the image.
  - ZitchDog 7y ago
    Why?
    - sudosteph 7y ago
      Why to what exactly?
krsdcbl 7y ago
I actually thought this might be a cool solution exactly because of people feeling that way - if you think streaming, for example, or video calls, where you'd rather not like to be streaming your actual face, technology like this might make it easier to convey a more natural dialogue whilst retaining more privacy
- dsaffy 7y ago
  I've actually had a couple people say that they used it that way - only on calls, and then switch back to keyboard/mouse detection after call is over.
- sudosteph 7y ago
  That's an interesting point, because my criticism really is only based on using this for "always on" status detection. I do think it could be an improvement to streaming conversations, especially if you wanted to save bandwidth or have privacy like you mentioned. Maybe even for something like for online school classes? I read a while back about how for kids enrolled in online classes, teachers had a hard time telling who was being attentive during lectures without streaming video from every single student. This could be a good lower-bandwidth way to ensure kids are actually present, while also acting as a nice anti-bullying measure since they can't be judged on the quality of their real clothes or housing if it's not a real video.
- Ruthalas 7y ago
  Some steamers currently use tools like FaceRig, which generates a avatar face that mirrors the expressions captured by your webcam.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
_the_inflator 7y ago
Snapchat proves you wrong. ;) People are playful and I can imagine that a remote settings is akin to some sort of playful roleplaying setting. So you build your avatar around your remote workstyle - can be funny in a setting where every one knows his peers. This is similar to workplace settings: casual/avatar if you are not facing customers, formal/no-avatar if you face customers. Could be cool to see, what happens in the future. Even iPhone supports those live emoji face masks.
- sudosteph 7y ago
  Maybe it's a generational thing. Nobody I know even uses snapchat any more. I had it for a while, but it felt like a fad. Slack and Discord (which are basically just nicer IRC) are the primary methods of communication for both professional and casual conversations in my social sphere. I've worked remote for years, and never wanted anything more than a basic "do not disturb" status. The creator says they're doing this to address loneliness, but some of us don't have a problem with addressing loneliness via text (or we get enough socializing in outside of work to be content). For people like me, this type of tool just creates extra mental overhead and distractions. I get that some people are into this because it's neat tech, but I'm really not convinced that it's a real value-add rather than a fad.
fujiters 7y ago
Right. This reminds me of the series of video chat developments in Infinite Jest (description here: https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/5/18518355/infinite-jest-video-calling-david-foster-wallace https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/5/18518355/infinite-jest-vid...). Masks have started to arrive! Only a couple more decades until we give up on video entirely.
supernintendo 7y ago
The more interesting use to me would be to generate the look of the avatar based on the person’s face. Distinct avatars provide useful visual cues in software like Slack, Pivotal Tracker etc. but many people just don’t like taking photos. Maybe the author of this post can provide insight: Does this implementation generate the avatar’s visual configuration or is this only concerned with dynamic facial expressions?
- dsaffy 7y ago
  The facial recognition just detects position and emotion, not other visual information (eg hair style). You plug that in yourself in an avatar editor. Could be interesting to play with!

dsaffy 7y ago

Thanks for the comment. I'm not sure it's for everyone. I also made an option for the avatar without the facial recognition, so it just grays out if your keyboard/mouse doesn't fire for 15s.

sudosteph 7y ago
The tech is actually quite cool. Like I could see it being used to make a game for kids that they "play" by trying to match expressions or something. I just personally would not feel comfortable working at a job where usage of this was expected, even if I could manually control the image.
- ZitchDog 7y ago
  Why?
  - sudosteph 7y ago
    Why to what exactly?

krsdcbl 7y ago

I actually thought this might be a cool solution exactly because of people feeling that way - if you think streaming, for example, or video calls, where you'd rather not like to be streaming your actual face, technology like this might make it easier to convey a more natural dialogue whilst retaining more privacy

dsaffy 7y ago
I've actually had a couple people say that they used it that way - only on calls, and then switch back to keyboard/mouse detection after call is over.
sudosteph 7y ago
That's an interesting point, because my criticism really is only based on using this for "always on" status detection. I do think it could be an improvement to streaming conversations, especially if you wanted to save bandwidth or have privacy like you mentioned. Maybe even for something like for online school classes? I read a while back about how for kids enrolled in online classes, teachers had a hard time telling who was being attentive during lectures without streaming video from every single student. This could be a good lower-bandwidth way to ensure kids are actually present, while also acting as a nice anti-bullying measure since they can't be judged on the quality of their real clothes or housing if it's not a real video.
Ruthalas 7y ago
Some steamers currently use tools like FaceRig, which generates a avatar face that mirrors the expressions captured by your webcam.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

_the_inflator 7y ago

Snapchat proves you wrong. ;) People are playful and I can imagine that a remote settings is akin to some sort of playful roleplaying setting. So you build your avatar around your remote workstyle - can be funny in a setting where every one knows his peers. This is similar to workplace settings: casual/avatar if you are not facing customers, formal/no-avatar if you face customers. Could be cool to see, what happens in the future. Even iPhone supports those live emoji face masks.

sudosteph 7y ago
Maybe it's a generational thing. Nobody I know even uses snapchat any more. I had it for a while, but it felt like a fad. Slack and Discord (which are basically just nicer IRC) are the primary methods of communication for both professional and casual conversations in my social sphere. I've worked remote for years, and never wanted anything more than a basic "do not disturb" status. The creator says they're doing this to address loneliness, but some of us don't have a problem with addressing loneliness via text (or we get enough socializing in outside of work to be content). For people like me, this type of tool just creates extra mental overhead and distractions. I get that some people are into this because it's neat tech, but I'm really not convinced that it's a real value-add rather than a fad.

fujiters 7y ago

Right. This reminds me of the series of video chat developments in Infinite Jest (description here: https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/5/18518355/infinite-jest-video-calling-david-foster-wallace https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/5/18518355/infinite-jest-vid...). Masks have started to arrive! Only a couple more decades until we give up on video entirely.

supernintendo 7y ago

The more interesting use to me would be to generate the look of the avatar based on the person’s face. Distinct avatars provide useful visual cues in software like Slack, Pivotal Tracker etc. but many people just don’t like taking photos. Maybe the author of this post can provide insight: Does this implementation generate the avatar’s visual configuration or is this only concerned with dynamic facial expressions?

dsaffy 7y ago
The facial recognition just detects position and emotion, not other visual information (eg hair style). You plug that in yourself in an avatar editor. Could be interesting to play with!