Red Bull Formula Face

Race Sim Central wrote:Red Bull Formula Face
is pretty far from the hardcore sim or even middle of the road
sim/arcade racing titles we cover, but the technology is what I really
want to touch on. Sure the gameplay is simple and silly, but the
implications of being able to use different facial movements to handle
an assortment of tasks is kind of remarkable.

Developer Xform Games teamed up with Buzzin Monkey
to create Red Bull Formula Face: the world’s first online community
racing game where players are able to steer their cars with their facial
expressions. It’s all free to play and works with the Unifeye Viewer
plugin of Metaio. Players steer by tilting their head, activate specials
by smiling, and get a speed boost by blinking.

Indeed, the human face has a lot of muscles which control many
different parts. Just think about a complicated Formula One steering
wheel and how many of its features could be assigned to different facial
expressions. With an accurate enough camera, even players without
control of their hands and/or feet could control different functions of a
car with eye, mouth, tongue, eyebrow, and neck movements.


Without sounding too preachy, I hope that technological developments such as Red Bull Formula Face’s
facial recognition could even be a source of edutainment. The players
in the video above no doubt enjoy making faces to play, but it would be
great if this kind of software could educate those playing about people
who have no choice but to use their face to interact with technology.

If technology can bring those without use of some or all of their
limbs closer to living out a dream or just having a fun time playing a
video game, I say that’s pretty awesome. What are your thoughts,
readers? Have you come across any technology that helps everyone play?