Photo Credit — Google

Virtual reality can bring amazing experiences, but not if you are just watching someone wearing a virtual reality headset.

Sharing these experiences with others can be a difficult process.

That is why, Daydream Labs and Google Research are teaming up to solve this problem, to reveal the user’s face by virtually “removing” the headset and create a realistic see-through effect.

The main goal of this experiment is to help enhance communication and social interaction in Virtual Reality.

To do this, first the Google team captures the face of the user by a camera as she tracks a marker on the monitor with her eyes.

Photo Credit — Google

Then, using a modified HTC Vive headset, the user is captured in front of a green-screen blended with the virtual environment to generate a Mixed Reality output.

Photo Credit — Google

In a traditional Mixed Reality output, the user’s face is occluded. However, Google’s experiemnet reveals the face.

In a blog post, Google says the applications of this advanced capturing technology can go beyond from being a cool video capturing feature.

“While we have shown the potential of our technology, its applications extend beyond Mixed Reality. Headset removal is poised to enhance communication and social interaction in VR itself with diverse applications like VR video conference meetings, multiplayer VR gaming, and exploration with friends and family. Going from an utterly blank headset to being able to see, with photographic realism, the faces of fellow VR users promises to be a significant transition in the VR world, and we are excited to be a part of it.”

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