In light of recent advances made in the field of computer vision, it is possible to reliably track a user's head position using an off-the-shelf web camera. Whilst such an advance is exciting due to how commonplace cameras now are in desktop setups, the potential of this new input technique is largely unexplored.
In effort to rectify this, our work looked to systematically explore the commercial interaction space for head gesturing. In particular, we focused on their use in augmenting traditional input for first-person-shooter computer games, in an effort to increase user enjoyment through promoting greater levels of presence and realism. We developed 6 techniques which consisted of; zooming, peering, spinning, looking down the barrel of the weapon, a fishbowl effect, and replicating the appearance of a hand-held camera. A demonstration of these techniques can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWkpdtFZoBE
These techniques were analysed using several focus groups, during which both game developers and end-users were represented. From this study, the handy-cam technique was found to have immediate commercial potential without the need to modify the game content. Likewise, the peering and zooming techniques were shown to have potential, but it was felt that the game content would need to be focused around their use, to ensure their success. A follow up user study confirmed part these results, by showing that most participants preferred the use of the handycam technique over a standard setup. Through showing this, we have demonstrated that head tracking can be used to enhance computer games.
Authors: Torben Sko, Dr Henry Gardner
Event: SF08: Speed Papers