Speech Tech Enables Realistic Talking Game Characters

August 31, 2005

I haven't seen this story reported elsewhere, so I thought it was worth noting,�particularly for the speech technology tie-in:

OC3 Entertainment's FaceFX Product to Use Fonix VoiceIn Technology

OC3 is the developer of FaceFX, a facial animation technology for game development. Integration of Fonix's VoiceIn technology will enable more realistic animation and add support for a number of languages. Besides adding realism to game characters, the technology will be used for enhancement of in-game voice chatting.

The press release, although interesting, doesn't give many details about what FaceFX does (maybe they were paying for PR copywriting on a per-word basis), but from OC3's Web site, I gather that the technology allows better synchronization between a character's audio track and the movements and expressions on the character's face. The site shows a good screen shot of the FaceFX user interface at:

http://www.oc3ent.com/images/facefx/preview_window.jpg

Good marketers show screen shots like this�on their Web sites, IMHO. Good going, OC3! One thing further that would enhance the presentation would be an animated demo showing a character created with the technology. Oh, wait, now I see they do have a demo -- here's a link to a great movie showing two action-hero game characters acting out the old Abbott and Costello "Who's on First" routine -- it's a hoot:

http://www.oc3ent.com/WhosOnFirst.wmv

AB -- 8/31/05

Related Tags: technology, facefx, FaceFX, characters, character