Hello everyone, and welcome to my new blog! In this first post, we will look at the FaceCake Swivel.
Right off the bat, I should mention that this is not quite a work of art, rather, it is a marketing tool (though it is indeed interactive with an alternative interface). FaceCake is a company that specializes in making AR experiences for other brands. Specifically, they make experiences for clothing and beauty brands that allow customers to sample their products.
This particular set of hardware and software has store shoppers (or even pedestrians passing by a storefront window) stand in front of a screen that displays a camera feed of them like a mirror. They can select articles of clothing and accessories by moving their hands over an on-screen menu, and then see these items superimposed on their bodies. This gives the impression of the potential customer actually trying them on and looking in a mirror.
It is my understanding that this is achieved by implementing technology similar to that of the Microsoft Kinect, if not simply using that exact product. The "mirror" feed is fairly obviously the work of a camera, though the installation's understanding of the user's body position is likely inferred from an infrared projector and camera. This sensor creates a voxel-like "depth map" of the space in front of it. The installation's software then extrapolates a humanoid "skeleton" from this 3D scene. With the knowledge of where the user's hands, head, and torso are, the installation can tell what the user wants to select with their hands, and where to display the clothes and accessories on-screen.
More info about this installation and others like it can be found on FaceCake's official website.
