Many desktop videoconferencing systems are ineffective due to deficiencies in gaze awareness and sense of spatial relationship. Previous works employ special hardware to address these problems. GazeMaster takes a software-only approach. Heads and eyes in the video are tracked using computer-vision techniques, and the tracking information is transmitted along with the video stream. Receivers take the tracking information corresponding to the video and graphically place the head and eyes in a virtual 3D space such that gaze awareness and a sense of space are provided.

Papers

• Gemmell, Jim, Zitnick, Larry, Kang, Thomas, and Toyama, Kentaro, Software-enabled Gaze-aware Videoconferencing, IEEE Multimedia, Vol. 7, No. 4, Oct-Dec 2000, pp. 26-35 word postscript
• Feris, Rogrio Schmidt, Gemmell, Jim, Toyama, Kentaro, and Krueger, Volker, Facial Feature Detection Using A Hierarchical Wavelet Face Database, Microsoft Research Technical report MSR-TR-2002-05, January 2002. Word (2.21 MB) PDF (1.37 MB) Abstract
• Kang, Thomas, Gemmell, Jim, Toyama, Kentaro, A Warp-Based Feature Tracker, Microsoft Research Technical Report, MSR-TR-99-80, October 1999. Word (541 KB) Postscript (6729 KB) Abstract
• Zitnick, C. Lawrence, Gemmell, Jim, and Toyama, Kentaro, Manipulation of Video Eye Gaze and Head Orientation for Video Teleconferencing, Microsoft Research Technical Report, MSR-TR-99-46, June 1999. Postscript Word

Presentations

Talk given at UCSB, Cambridge U., U. Virginia, UCB and Stanford HTML PowerPoint

Demos

• Demo of head manipulation:
  These video clips show the original video and GazeMaster-enhanced video. The original video was shot with the camera mounted underneath the monitor. Note that no eye-contact is ever made. Looking at the other party's video image on the screen is perceived as looking above the viewer. GazeMaster-enhanced video tilts the head down so that eye contact is made when the eyes are directed at the image on the screen (and eye contact is broken when looking to the side, and for a moment when looking up at another window). Original video; GazeMaster enhanced video; Video clip showing how head manipulation is performed.
• Demo of head and eye manipulation (.exe) (277 KB zip file, requires DirectX 6.1 or higher)