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Glasses-free 3D using webcam head tracking

assetstore.unity.com

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Re: Glasses-free 3D using webcam head tracking

#41

Post by SirMaster »

But does it actually make stuff look like you can reach out and touch it like the 3D movies at theme parks? I don't see how it would. This just seems like parallax.

You can do this with a Kinect for head tracking and people do that with homemade pinball machines using a TV as the table, and a Kinect to track your head, so it looks like the table is 3D down into the TV.

But I don't think it creates the full 3D effect with things looking like they are coming way out of the screen and like a tangible thing you can reach out and touch.

Re: Glasses-free 3D using webcam head tracking

#42

Post by toss1 »

il_nets wrote: post #2

Hi HN, I'm Sten, one of the creators. We built this because we wanted 3D experiences without needing a VR headset. The approach: use your webcam to track where you're looking, and adjust the 3D perspective to match. Demo: https://portality.io/dragoncourtyard/ (Allow camera, move your head left/right) It creates motion parallax - the same depth cue your brain uses when you look around a real object. Feels like looking…

Very cool!

I can see this quite useful for educational demonstrations of physics situations and mechanical systems (complex gearing, etc.). Also maybe for product simulations/demonstrations in the design phase — take output from CAD files and make a nice little 3D demo.

Maybe have an "inertia(?)" setting that makes it keep turning when you move far enough off center, as if you were continuing to walk around it.

The single-viewer limitation seems obvious and fundamental, and maybe a bit problematic for the above use cases, such as when showing something to a small group of people. One key may be to take steps to ensure it robustly locks onto and follows only one face/set of eyes. It would be jarring to have it locking onto different faces as conditions or positions subtly change.

Re: Glasses-free 3D using webcam head tracking

#43

Post by president_zippy »

behringer wrote: post #39
president_zippy wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was definitely useful and appreciated on the "New" Nintendo 3DS XL, which also used a camera to track your eye movements and adjust the divergence accordingly. I hate the fact that Nintendo abandoned this technology because experiencing Ocarina of Time and Star Fox 64 in 3D was world-changing to me. I'd say I'm not the only one who misses this technology in games, because a used New 3DS XL costs at least $200 on e…

Vr has taken over this market. Get a vr headset you won't be disappointed.

Other than DCS, Skyrim, and that one Star Wars game at Dave and Buster's where you duel Darth Vader, I don't see a lot that sings to me just yet. Granted, I could easily get 2,000 hours out of DCS over the span of a decade just flying every third and fourth generation fighter jet ever made.

Maybe VR doesn't need that many games because the small handful of good ones have so much depth and replay value. I guess I just talked myself into a $700 VR kit and possibly a $700 GPU upgrade, depending on whether or not my RTX 3060 is up to task.

Re: Glasses-free 3D using webcam head tracking

#44

Post by nxobject »

Auracle wrote: post #12
president_zippy wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was definitely useful and appreciated on the "New" Nintendo 3DS XL, which also used a camera to track your eye movements and adjust the divergence accordingly. I hate the fact that Nintendo abandoned this technology because experiencing Ocarina of Time and Star Fox 64 in 3D was world-changing to me. I'd say I'm not the only one who misses this technology in games, because a used New 3DS XL costs at least $200 on e…

Samsung recently released a monitor with similar technology, I believe, as a FYI.

I'm surprised there's still a market for non-VR consumer 3D! I remember the post-Avatar rush of 3D-related products that never quite panned out.

Re: Glasses-free 3D using webcam head tracking

#45

Post by nine_k »

il_nets wrote: post #2

Hi HN, I'm Sten, one of the creators. We built this because we wanted 3D experiences without needing a VR headset. The approach: use your webcam to track where you're looking, and adjust the 3D perspective to match. Demo: https://portality.io/dragoncourtyard/ (Allow camera, move your head left/right) It creates motion parallax - the same depth cue your brain uses when you look around a real object. Feels like looking…

This is fun! But I see it showing me a close-up view (smaller FOV) if I move my head back, and a wider view (larger FOV) if I bring my head closer. This is the opposite to what I'd expect: if I bring my head nearer to the screen, I should see a more detail, closer (narrower FOV).

Re: Glasses-free 3D using webcam head tracking

#47

Post by svantana »

socalgal2 wrote: post #5
il_nets wrote: post #2

Hi HN, I'm Sten, one of the creators. We built this because we wanted 3D experiences without needing a VR headset. The approach: use your webcam to track where you're looking, and adjust the 3D perspective to match. Demo: https://portality.io/dragoncourtyard/ (Allow camera, move your head left/right) It creates motion parallax - the same depth cue your brain uses when you look around a real object. Feels like looking…

I don't know if you designed it for a specific monitor but, feedback. It tried using it on my M1 Mac. First thing, there is no loading indicator and it takes too long to start so I though it was broken a few times before I realized I had to wait longer. Second thing, although it was clearly tracking my head and moving the camera it did not make me feel like I'm looking into a window into a 3d scene behind the monitor…

Isn't it because the webcam FOV is unknown, which is needed to estimate distance from pixel (along with face size, but that should be less variant). The three.js demo had the strength parameter that can be used to calibrate. The iphone app is pre-calibrated for the most common devices, I believe.

Re: Glasses-free 3D using webcam head tracking

#49

Post by Ninjinka »

Calling this 3D is a stretch, it does not make things appear like they're coming out of the screen. That requires having a way to show something different to each eye, something not possible with a standard display.

I did see a demo of 3D without glasses on a full monitor that DID make it look like it was coming out of the screen at CES, it requires a $3000 monitor though: https://www.3dgamemarket.net/content/32-4k-glasses-free-3d-g...

Also the 3DS obviously.

Re: Glasses-free 3D using webcam head tracking

#50

Post by stevage »

IshKebab wrote: post #40
brenschluss wrote: post #9

BTW, the OG demo from Johnny Lee is from 2007: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw

I tried implementing this with face detection-based head tracking after that demo (or maybe before; I can't remember). I got it working but the effect was very underwhelming. It looks great in that video, but it kind of sucks in real life. I think the problem is in real life you have an enormous number of other visual cues that tell you that you're not really seeing something 3D - focus, stereoscopy (not for me thoug…

Probably also the fact you just don't move much while sitting in front of a screen, so the stereoscopy effect is much more relevant.
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