This Game Developer Uses iPhone X to Create Realistic Facial Animations

Iphone X Facial Animations Truedepth Credit: The Verge
Text Size
- +

Toggle Dark Mode

The iPhone X’s advanced TrueDepth Camera may have wider applications than just Face ID and Animoji — the flagship is now apparently being used in game development.

Finnish game studio Next Games is reportedly using the iPhone X for a new location-based augmented reality title called The Walking Dead: Our World. Specifically, the studio has built a platform that lets it capture facial data via the iPhone X and use it to animate characters in-game, The Verge reported.

Normally, using facial capture technology for animation requires expensive equipment and facilities. That puts smaller indie game developers and studios at a disadvantage. That’s where Apple’s TrueDepth camera comes in.

While The Verge’s Andrew Webster noted that the results weren’t quite as accurate as those full-fledged facial capture systems, they were “impressive.” And, importantly, they can be done for much, much less. You don’t need a studio or any special gear — just an iPhone with a depth-sensing camera.

This Game Developer Uses Iphone X To Create Realistic Facial Animations

Webster saw a demonstration version of Next Games’ tool. A developer used the iPhone X to record some example facial movements. Within seconds, those same facial expressions were powering an animation of a Walking Dead character within the Unity game engine running on a connected laptop.

While Next Games’ system is bespoke, Apple lets developers access the iPhone X’s full range of facial scanning capabilities. Technically, that means other developers and studios could create their own tools.

For The Walking Dead: Our World, it means that the main cast’s facial animations will look pretty realistic. But the developer is actually planning on implementing it for a player-side social feature, too. When the game rolls out, players will be able to record animations of zombies using TrueDepth — assuming that they have an iPhone X, of course. They’ll then be able to share those animations with other players.

Mobile gaming is an area of increasing focus for tech companies, game developers and consumers. And a recent report suggests that Apple could be leading the way in the mobile gaming sphere, thanks to its App Store platform and the increasing sophistication of iPhone hardware.

The Walking Dead: Our World is slated for a launch in 2018’s second quarter — between April and June of this year.

Read iPhone X Overview
Sponsored
Social Sharing