Xbox One's Kinect Will Be Able To Model Games' Characters Based on Your Looks

During the “The Future of Xbox” panel at San Diego Comic Con Rare’s Director of New Technology Nick Burton had something quite interesting to share about the new Kinect that will come bundled with every Xbox One.

[nick309]

I dont like this kind of gimmicks.

[Abriael]

They surely can't hurt, as long as it doesn't give developers an excuse not to spend resources in creating well designed default characters.

[3-4-5]

exactly. It becomes a problem when this becomes "standard" or "the norm" and instead of including it that make it the only option.

Somebody will be " That Guy" or " That Studio" and will ruin it for others.

[BluEx610]

My PS Eye did this also. And I'm assuming the new PS Camera will do this also. I'm glad we got the option in buying this extra peripheral if we want to use said features.

Sorry Kinect supporters, I just wish the peripheral was optional... I'm a stingy gamer lol. Could you imagine shooting all these ugly people on CoD? LOL

[JokesOnYou]

It's not mandatory its there for any dev to use, and I'm not sure how closely it will represent your face but I can't understand why any gamer wouldn't welcome the option.

[BallsEye]

I want new rumored free to play Fable MMO on XO to use this :o...me and my buds would make an acapella in the middle of the town :o

[WrAiTh Sp3cTr3]

Bluex610, devs probably wouldn't even waste their time doing it for the PS4 because, as you so much pointed out with grand adore, the PSeye doesn't come with every PS4.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

This will be great for sports games.

[UnwanteDreamz]

I'm reminded of all the smoke and mirrors associated with kinect originally. Milo?

Okay not alot but they showed some things besides Milo that never were fully realised.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[B1663r]

You never played Kinectamals did you?

[AngelicIceDiamond]

@Nick Are you serious? That's sounds cool as hell. Imagine a game where its starring you? Or a playing a AAA game where you can map your face on say A Cod character, BF character, DeadRising Character. Fully customizable Halo helmets or possibly customizing your full bodied Gear in games? Or mapping your friends faces on enemies on Project Spark? (lol)

This is some seriously cool new stuff here the possibilities could be endless here.

EDIT: @Disagrees Did I hurt anybodies feeling here? Or is just fanboys doing there usual drivebys? Either way the news is out there and it sounds cool, don't like well that's just to damn bad.

[CoLD FiRE]

I don't get why you're getting all these disagrees! People should think about games that allow you to create your own character. Imagine playing Mass Effect with a character that looks 99% like you.

I played the Mass Effect trilogy using a female character because of the voice and the fact that it's almost impossible to make a male character that looks anything like me. Now if Kinect can make it possible to recreate yourself ingame that would be amazing.

Don't be short-sighted! Imagine in the future when Kinect is able to learn your voice and it uses it to replace the game dialog with your own voice. Sure, that's not gonna happen anytime soon but we'll get there....eventually.

[Reverent]

That's great for people who want their characters to look like themselves... But it had better be 100% optional. I don't like creating a character to look like myself. Oddly enough, I actually prefer to play as female characters in video games. Can't very well do that if a camera is building my character for me based on my looks.

[HammadTheBeast]

Why are you so affected by disagrees?

[Thatguy-310]

Technology isn't there yet. Especially for a 500$ price tag. It will probably do it but it won't be what people expect. I will honestly believe them once I see it when it hits retail. Kinect was no where near as revolutionary as it showed when it was known as natal.

[Electric-flamingo]

Dude why bother?

[MasterCornholio]

I remember how amazed I was when I say Milo.

But when Kinect came out BAM there it is happened.

Motorola RAZR i

[abzdine]

it's stinking Xbox fanboys over here!
i dont see what's the problem with what you say since so many disagree!
Kinect isn't a revolution, it's in fact a very limited technology and device.

Kinect 2 can do all this? then they need to prove it instead of saying empty words.

[GameCents]

I have a great self and body image, so I don't mind looking at myself in a game. So I like this gimmick.

[NegativeCreepWA]

Same here, I think that's why a lot of people are intimidated by Kinect.

[SignifiedSix91]

Pretty sure this is more for RPG's like skyrim and whatnot. You know, games where people try to make their characters to look like them. yeah, this would make it a lot easier.

[SpideySpeakz]

Gimmicky fresh out the toilet.

[StoutBEER]

Id think youd love this

[BallsEye]

How is this a gimmick? It's pretty awesome!

[Thomper]

@nick309

Well, don't use it then, or buy a ps4 instead... Simples

Nobody cares

[Colzer01]

Finally I can make myself an Avatar

[maddfoxx]

You can do this on the 3DS

[Colzer01]

Of course! I just have to import my Xbox Avatar gamertag to 3DS

[Abriael]

Lol no you can't. It doesn't turn your face in a fully mapped 3D model.

[maddfoxx]

@Abriael: Actually it does, and I remember doing the same thing in Tony Hawk's Underground with the EyeToy on the PS2.

@Colzer01: Good luck.

[M-M]

Interesting. Imagine putting yourself in a game like GTA lol.

[iamnsuperman]

Cool but for some reason I can't see this actually working well. There is a reason why making a game character takes a long time. Each face is different from the next. I can see a lot of weird looking game characters if this is implemented

[Fireseed]

Not really. Technology has come a long way and if you were to take measurements of a persons as accurately as the Kinect can it would be fairly easy. If it can evaluate your skin tones to detect your heart rate it could easily map the protrusions of parts of your face such as you zygomatic, or maxilla structure and adjust them accordingly in game. And with it's depth sensors it could also generate a fairly good normal map. I've seen cameras with depth sensors specifically made for generating high quality bump and normal maps before so it isn't to far fetched to say it can handle that.

[GameCents]

It's on a MS console so of course you can't see it working well.

[NegativeCreepWA]

lol, Fox news would be all over that.

[maddfoxx]

Now that's a great idea. This would be awesome for games like Mass Effect and other RPGs.

[GameCents]

Read my mind. I already tried and failed to make myself Commander Shepard so this excites me very much.
We are gonna start seeing the benefits of having Kinect in the box very more and more as the weeks go by.

Developers will more LIKELY want to implement Kinect features into their games seeing as every single X1 owner will have one.

This of course upsets SOME of those who won't buy an X1

[majiebeast]

Penis characters are gonna reach a whole new lvl.

[Abriael]

It's called TTP :D

"Time To Penis" = 1 minute, three seconds.

[MasterCornholio]

Noooooooooooo the horror the horror.

Motorola RAZR i

[Sitdown]

Except for the fact that Kinect is able to tell your heads apart......unless you are telling us something.

[JessiePinkmanYo]

Lol, bubble up for that one!

[StoutBEER]

Hahaha slow pan up to finally see the Chiefs face... penis.

[NegativeCreepWA]

This was a fun feature in Rainbow Six Vegas, it was hilarious watching your guys mouth move when you talked also.

[pompombrum]

If this is actually implemented it would be really cool however at this point, I'm skeptical and will wait until it's done.

[GameCents]

Sensible skepticism, nothing wrong with that brother.
I'm cautiously optimistic myself.

[JokesOnYou]

Yes very sensible.

[from the beach]

Kinect Sports Rivals supposedly does this, although the game hasn't been shown yet.

Gamescom I guess..

[SuperLupe]

I like the new attituede MS have with Kinect. No more "the controller is you" crap but fresh and intelligent ideas to enhance your gaming experience that do't require flapping your arms all over the place or whatever.

[Miraak82]

i did that with pseye on ps2 with tony hawk

[kenmid]

Could your ps2 do 3d mapping, see layers of your skin,body mass?

[OrangePowerz]

The EyeToy is 10 years old, Kinect is a more advanced version of it, nothing more.

[GameCents]

Yeah, and my Lumia 920 is nothing more than an advanced Nokia 3310

[kenmid]

@orangepwers
Of course the kinect more advance after 10 yrs, he made seem that the PS eye was already doing this stuff like 3d mapping, texture etc. as the original article was talking about.

[Abriael]

It's not the same thing.

[OrangePowerz]

It is just more advanced.

[Pascalini]

Great now my games can look a ugly as me

[Elit3Nick]

now, now...

[StoutBEER]

Nobody disagreed... sad.

[WhyHate]

You didn't disagree either.... LOL

[JokesOnYou]

I didn't disagree either, lol

[Izzy408]

Awesome, I like it, but I still think the Kinect should be optional though.

[Abriael]

Same here, my problem with Kinect isn't that it's there, but that it's shoved down our throat.

[BABYLEG]

Was a controller shoved down your throat as well or just you just accept it without a fight? What if they release a controller with only 2 face buttons? You sound like the type of person who'll start complaining when cars drive themselves because you still want your hand on the wheel.

[Abriael]

@Babyleg: the controller is an indispensible element to gaming. Without it you can't play a game.

Kinect is not an indispensible element to gaming, as the console comes with a controller.

Sorry to burst a bubble, but your comparison is entirely unfitting. Come back when you got a better one, will you? :D

[green]

A keyboard is not an indispensable part of gaming. You could as well use a keyboard and mouse which is faster and more accurate than a control pad but yet we are not complaining that it is being shoved down our throat.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

@Izzy So they can possibly screw the core fanbase again? No it needs to be in there.

Kinect won't be optional. I rather have it now than forced down my throat later. Along with Kinect only software, Kinect only ads, Kinect only E3's. You know, kind a how its been with the 360 for the past couple of years/E3s.

MS pushed hard to feed that Kinect fanbase and completely forgetting the core. That was horrible.

Why separate the fanbase while everyone can opt to it now?

How many casual Kinect titles are there for X1? like 2 or 3 causal games. So far Kinect only software seems only being developed the casual, while hardcore devs are utilizing for core mechanics. Deadrising, BF, COD, Whitcher.

No way, I rather pay for Kinect now than later.

[BattleTorn]

This would be awesome for games like Mass Effect. I hate picking up the latest RPG, and then spend the first chunk of time editing the players appearance. And you know, you have to (if you want a good custom appearance) cause your only option is to do it at the beginning, because then you're stuck with looking at the appearance for the rest of your play through.

I've found this exact situation I described too much, and thus I often go with the default appearance.

[Nyromith]

Nice feature, but still not a reason to make the kinect mandatory.

[theWB27]

People still complain that the Kinect is mandatory. There's a reason it's mandatory. Devs wouldn't take the time to implement features like this if they knew most of the console base didn't have the camera.

Now all they have to do is look at X1 sales, know that every person has the camera and implement these features knowing that it won't be a total waste of time. Keep the camera mandatory, cause the features are only going to get better as the gen goes on.

[Nyromith]

This is a faulty argument. All those features are just minor enhancements that can be implemented without requiring Kinect. Just like Sony now requires to implement certain cross-play features with the Vita without requiring everyone to buy a Vita.

I recently bought Skyrim for Xbox, and it has some very cool features for people who like Kinect, like shouts and voice inventory management. And this is the way it should be - optional gameplay enhancements.

I was very impressed with Microsoft's E3 and was glad they remove all the anti-consumer restrictions, and this mandatory Kinect is the only thing that keeps me from pre-ordering an Xbox in addition to my PS4.

I'm sure there is a way to please both Kinect fans and those who don't want this camera in their living room.

[theWB27]

It might be faulty to you because you don't want it. They are minor enhancements...but they'll keep being minor enhancements if it isn't a central part of the system. Developers won't spend the proper time to implement more than minor enhancements if they feel enough people won't experience it.

Do you think if the Wii or WiiU weren't built around their controls developers would have built the games around them? No.

Sony doesn't set the gold standard for how things are done. If you like the way they do things, get a Playstation. Microsoft isn't Sony, they have different gameplans.

At some point, you have to push forward with technology. Just like both the X1 and PS4 don't support SD tv's anymore. You push forward. Micro is doing that by requiring their camera with every system.

If they didn't, again, we'd only be seeing minor improvements instead of developers discovering great things to implement knowing that all gamers can take advantage.

They aren't catering to people who don't want the Kinect. They built it into the very fabric of the system, unlike the first Kinect. It's here to stay, obviously by the system now selling out there are more than enough people who are on board with it. It's not going anywhere. You have an option to get a system without a camera.

[JokesOnYou]

@Nyromith

"This is a faulty argument."

This is a proven argument just looking at how every other console peripheral add on has been treated by 3rd party devs.

-Fixed.

[NihonjinChick]

It doesn't have to be mandatory for the console to work. I have no problem with them including the Kinect with the system. It's the fact I need to hook up the Kinect for the Xbox to work.

Everybody would still have one, even if they didn't require it for the Xbox to work.

All they had to do was put it in the box along with the console and leave it at that.

[theWB27]

Because they want people to use this device that they have put a ton of work into. It's part of the fabric of the system. Sony built their community features into the PS4, even put a dedicated share button on the controller because they worked so hard implementing these features.

It's rumored the Kinect costs as much as the system itself. Why would they want people to wrap it up and put it to the side? (I still get what you're saying though. I just prefer Micro's stance cause I think any other option and developers won't adopt it. I want to see what they do with it.)

Edit- I understand what you're saying, I do. I'm just saying I also understand why Microsoft is making it mandatory.

[NihonjinChick]

But just because it's required for the system to work doesn't mean people will buy games for it or use it's features. They might as well have just included it with the console and left it at that.At the end of the day, the only people who are going to use Kinect are the ones who would have used it if it wasn't required for the console to work.

[AceofStaves]

Sounds cool for people who enjoy that sense of immersion in games.

[My_Outer_Heaven]

I remember when Kinect 1 was shown at E3 for the first time... a majority of the stuff they showed was fake and only showed what they hoped* to achieve. Remember the trailer that showed a kid scanning his skateboard and using it in game. That never happened to my knowledge.. I've seen these kinds of features mentioned before but it never gets brought to light, they've never gotten round to actually using it in games! Sure these sorts of features might help with immersion but I guess in a real world where people pay to advertise this could become a big concern for developers. They certainly would not want to see brands within their games that they did not pay the rights to use!

I really doubt Kinect will allow integration of your clothing and/or items into a game that could be online. An online game could be troublesome for copyright laws.

Unfortunatly for MS I won't be getting an Xbone, I personally feel that Sony have a better understanding on how to add immersion with a camera for gaming, just look at the playroom footage for PS4. It looks really fun and simplistic, which is what a camera based game should be! Not overly complicated and integrated into hardcore games!

I DONT WANT MY FAVORITE GAMES RUINED BY KINECT OR EYE INTERGRATION, ESPECIALLY WHEN ITS NOT NEEDED!

[Thatguy-310]

Exactly. Just ways to hype the product. We saw it with kinect and I wouldn't be surprised if we see it this time around.

[Electric-flamingo]

Do you feel better?

[quenomamen]

Oooooooh, let me cancel my PS4 pre-order right now !

[erikthegman]

seeing is believing Microsoft. I only use my Kinect for dance central and just dance

[Thatguy-310]

The only genre that I like kinect is basically for the fitness games.

[SaveFerris]

The tech sounds cool, but personally I wouldn't want to have an avatar of myself in a game like Dark Souls or COD where I'd be killed constantly. Seeing that would be too much.
I'm intrigued by the heart-rate and body mass stuff. Imagine if these real world stats could be applied in the players avatar? Character models would be all shapes and sizes, but the fitness levels would be terrible.

[mmj]

Will the photograph of your face be stored on the cloud or NSA servers?

[theWB27]

The NSA knows you just type this. How fast too. How much internet you use and what sites you visit. Oh snap do you have a smart phone...that's even worse. Beware..the NSA knows you're a troll.

[SignifiedSix91]

Exactly. These conspiracy theorists are VERY annoying...

[PirateThom]

@SignifiedSix91

Except, and here's the kicker, turns out the conspiracy theorist are right this time.

[flunkers]

Yeh. And I'm sure the NSA will come after you when the camera picks up your fat and you wear women's clothes. :)

[mmj]

How am I a conspiracy theorist when Microsoft conspiring with NSA PRISM is factually proven? as the old saying ignorance is bliss.

[StoutBEER]

This has been happening on laptops and desktops forever. Do what everyone does, duck tape.

[B1uBurneR]

I like this finally they are doing it again .. they did with the 360 original vision camera they mapped your face in rainbow six Vegas onto your multiplayer character

[TIER1xWOLFPACKx]

They did this with the ps eye for games like rainbow six it's nothing new, probably more detailed though

[wishingW3L]

there are games on the PS2 that does this with the Eyeytoy. lol

[TIER1xWOLFPACKx]

I thought so I couldn't remember wether they did, thanks wishing saves me having to edit and put that up haha

[OrangePowerz]

I'm not sure what to think about. If it can actually properly scan and render your face there is still the thing about the voice. If I see a character that looks like me but sounds like someone else that would feel very strange.

[sourav93]

Just like how milo worked? And as well as the scanning in your skateboard thing? I'll believe it when I see it.

[maniacmayhem]

Excellent, I can see a lot of games implementing this feature. Xbox Won is looking more appealing everyday.

[thetruthx1]

I would love to see myself as a zombie in a future Dead Rising

I'd run around myself a few minutes before pulling the trigger lol

[IIC0mPLeXII]

Lots of fat ass master chiefs running around now.

[Foxgod]

Never again would the games i play feature ugly looks..

[Picnic]

I don't want every game that I play to look like some post-plague survival horror.

[fOrlOnhOpe57]

Thats sounds pretty cool but you have to wonder why the hell MS havent trumpeted or shown off features like this,up front?

[WhyHate]

It would've been too much for console purest to take in all at once. Their heads would have exploded.

It's kind of how they are showing us now with every feature reveal for the Xbox One.

;)

[ziggurcat]

just like how kinect was supposed to be able to scan your skateboard, and have it show up in game?

yeah, that was coo... wait, no, that never actually happened.

[abcde12345]

Whoop-de-doo

[WhyHate]

"The whole game also tracks your face during gameplay and will reproduce your real life facial expressions on the in game models."

I knew the Kinect 2.0 was going to be good, but I didn't realize Xbox One was starting the beginning stages of The Lawnmower Man tech.

:)

[MicDude]

I'm slightly less than able bodied. That is I cannot stand up straight. Will I be able to use the Kinect features?

[yewles1]

Oh jeez, there were stations in stores that could turn your face into a Quake II mod...

[urwifeminder]

Nice I thought rainbow six vegas 2 did this really well every time I went for cover could see my own head was a laugh look forward to seeing how far they have come with this sort of tech.

[NeoTribe]

More worthless gimmicks people won't use once they realize its nothing like they said it would be.

[rigbybot127]

Wow, this is very exciting news. More and more incentive for me to buy an Xbox One.

[SilentGuard]

A neet feature indeed, but something that should be a selling point for Kinect to make people want to buy it seperately.