back to article 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 …

COMMENTS

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    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...

  2. b166er

    But why?

  3. 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.

    1. Haku
      1. Captain DaFt
  4. Zebidee
    Meh

    HMMMMMM

    Looks like the faces from Goldeneye on the N64!

  5. Fred Flintstone Gold badge

    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..

  6. Haku
    Pint

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

    1. Dave 126 Silver badge

      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!"

      1. karakalWitchOfTheWest
        Pint

        If you mean this...

        It was just a few years back and in Argentinia:

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

  7. Graham Marsden
    Gimp

    "dodgy web cam video calls"??

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

    (Ahem!)

  8. hplasm
    WTF?

    Drop the veil- again?

    Lift the veil, shurely?

    1. Alister
      Thumb Up

      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?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Drop the veil- again?

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

        I mean, honestly.

        1. Dave 126 Silver badge

          Re: Drop the veil- again?

          Yep.

          The Spanish Inquisition

          The Norman Invasion of 1066

          Orville the Duck

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

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

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

      3. Anonymous Coward
        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.

        1. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

          I'm thinking of Salome

          NSFW, but how to get ahead in your business.

  9. jubtastic1
    WTF?

    Ideal for people that missed the 80s

    And want to look like a beaten up new romantic.

  10. Francis Boyle Silver badge

    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.

  11. 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.

    1. Dave 126 Silver badge

      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.

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