Star Citizen unveils player-driven Faceware tech

Faceware Technologies and Cloud Imperium Games announced a new feature in Star Citizen last Friday at a fan gathering during Gamescom in Cologne. The announcement was that the technology that is used for facial animations in-game will now also allow for tracking of player faces that are then imported into the game real-time.

"This is the first time any game has used this kind of technology to detect and stream the facial movements of players in real-time, and I believe it's a revolutionary step in gaming," said Chris Roberts, chairman and CEO of Cloud Imperium Games. "For the first time we'll be able to deliver the full range of human emotion, not just voice. Our players' facial expressions will be translated onto their avatars' face. Combine that with a player's voice correctly positioned in the virtual world, and you have the most lifelike player-to-player communication ever."

"We're seeing more and more interest in this sort of real-time animation, but Cloud Imperium is the first game company to take it to this level," said Peter Busch, vice president of business development at Faceware Technologies. "I can't wait to see the reaction of Star Citizen fans as they chat, in-game, about their next mission, their ships, or what they had for breakfast. Player-driven characters could change multiplayer games forever."

Star Citizen is the most crowdfunded game ever, the persistent multiplayer portion of the game is currently in alpha 3.0, while we still await firm news on when to expect the solo campaign Squadron 42 (still with a tentative 2017 release window).

For even more on Star Citizen you can catch the full two and a half hour presentation from Cologne over on the official YouTube page.