Video Eyes

One more thing about video chatting (chances are there will actually be many more of these as I'm going to be constrained to only video chatting with my most best lady friend for the length of the school year). And this one should be at the top of their list (they, those who make the things that make the things work and what not).

There needs to be some sort of offset that calibrates where the camera is and where the person's face is showing up. And if you're looking at where the person is on the screen they should be seeing you look at them in the eyes.

As it stands now the only way it looks like you're looking at the person you're talking to is precisely when you're not looking at them and you're looking into the camera. There has got to be a way (facial recognition) to figure out where the person is on the screen and a way to (eye movement recognition - they have this and use it in usability testing) tell where you're looking at the given time. And when these two things pair up there should be an adjustment so that you look like you're looking at the person's face.

I mean, maybe all it takes is a simple shifting of the image at precisely the angle and distance between the camera and where the person is on the screen (which would still require information about how far back the person looking is sitting and some way of telling where they're looking). But yes this is a key to making the technology work. And we've all been stoked about this technology for years so why it is that we're not all jumping up and down to get in line to pay to use it? Cause it isn't right yet.

Go. Make it right.