Japanese cellco drops veil on futuristic hands-free video phone

Japanese mobile operator NTT Docomo has unveiled a pair of hi-tech video phone glasses which could finally answer the problem of dodgy web cam video calls. The hands-free specs contain six 180 degree, 720p cameras which capture the user’s face live before altering your mug in real-time to take account of close-up distortion …

[Anonymous Coward]

I just want to know what images the bloke is being fed right at the start of the video clip.

His hands are doing a fine Vic Reeves motion...

[b166er]

But why?

[jai]

But, when this is productionised for consumers and enclosed in a robust package, is it not going to end up looking like those huge VR headsets we used to have to wear to play those VR arcarde games back in the early 90s?

I think I'd rather have a vid conference with someone looking slightly below my face than have to wear something like that everytime i go into a meeting room.

[Haku]

Huge VR headsets you say...

YouTube clip of it in action!

[Captain DaFt]

Pfft! You call that big?

[Zebidee]

HMMMMMM

Looks like the faces from Goldeneye on the N64!

[Fred Flintstone]

Love it

As it combines real data with a pre-rendered image, you could render yourself properly shaved first, than pick up the phone early morning or totally plastered and still look decent.

"No, honey, we just had a very late meeting"

Ah, so many possibilities. They have something there..

[Haku]

"No boss, I'm not skiving in the local, it's a realistic pub screensaver you can see in the background..."

[Dave 126]

Back in the nineties, I saw a TV feature on a German bar (it might have been a strip club) whose telephone booth could the supply the user's choice of sound effects, to accompany such excuses as "Honey, I'm stuck in traffic" or "Darling! My train's been delayed... AGAIN!"

[karakalWitchOfTheWest]

If you mean this...

It was just a few years back and in Argentinia:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1Ho9l789VI

[Graham Marsden]

"dodgy web cam video calls"??

Oh, not *that* sort of dodgy web cam video call...!

(Ahem!)

[hplasm]

Drop the veil- again?

Lift the veil, shurely?

[Alister]

Re: Drop the veil- again?

Agreed, what is it with this "drops veil" stuff, don't El Reg practice English anymore?

For years, it has been understood that lifting the veil reveals something, and dropping the veil would hide something - see also "shroud". Is this alternative a Merkin invention, or just a comprehension fail?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Drop the veil- again?

Is there anything that Reg readers *can't* blame on the United States?

I mean, honestly.

[Dave 126]

Re: Drop the veil- again?

Yep.

The Spanish Inquisition

The Norman Invasion of 1066

Orville the Duck

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: what is it with this "drops veil" stuff?

They don't get out enough --- especially to traditional weddings!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Drop the veil- again?

It depends upon the nature of the veil.

If it is a Western culture bridal veil, that is attached to a headpiece, then it is raised to reveal the face.

If it is an Eastern culture veil (think Jasmine, or Genie), then the veil is lowered to reveal the face.

The US is firmly in the Western side of things: I've never heard "lower the veil". Sorry to ruin your 5 minute hate there, friend.

[Robert Carnegie]

I'm thinking of Salome

NSFW, but how to get ahead in your business.

[jubtastic1]

Ideal for people that missed the 80s

And want to look like a beaten up new romantic.

[Francis Boyle]

Can't see how this could be useful for conference calls.

It seems to be, by definition, one to one. And when it comes to one to one video calls people are either not interested or they want, how should I put it, a certain degree of privacy in which case a screen and webcam are entirely adequate. I can't even see how you could point this thing downward - not much use for Chatroulette then.

[Mike Moyle]

Hold the background steady, dammit!

If they're going to show his background, they need to find a way to stabilize it. Clearly, the unit has an accelerometer to indicate the movement of the user's head, there should be some (admittedly, computationally-intensive) way to negate that value for the rear-facing camera so that the BG stays steady while the head moves.

MY POV doesn't change when the person I'm talking to in RL moves HIS head, only when I move MINE.

[Dave 126]

Re: Hold the background steady, dammit!

Computationally intensive? Yep!

Better to just cheat or workaround that issue.

Easy enough to just take a still, and blur it, fade in an updated still image every ten seconds or so, when it knows its horizontal. No biggie.