Face tracking with a Logitech camera

Here’s a cool new option for you Webcam folks out there. A4Vision, a California start-up, has licensed its Face Tracking technology to Logitech, which will be adding it to its line of Webcam beginning in February. The technology allows the camera to digitally recognize and track a human face as it moves around – a great feature for those that do a lot of Webconferencing. No more accidentally drifting off the screen as you shift around in your seat.

A4Vision originally started out life looking to build facial recognition technology for high-end security. Rather than reinvent the wheel, it hoped to use off-the-shelf camera technology. In the process, it discovered it could use what it had developed with low-end Webcams, says Grant Evans, CEO of A4Vision.

Face Tracker recognizes when a person is sitting in front of the camera, zones in on the face and begins automatically tracking. Normal Webcams have a 10-degree field that the face will fit in before drifting out of the picture. Evans says his company’s digital technology (there’s no moving parts to adjust the camera position) expands the camera’s perspective to about 60 degrees.

I haven’t given it a try yet since I don’t have a compatible Logitech camera, but if you’ve got a QuickCam Zoom, QuickCam Pro 4000, or QuickCam for Notebooks Pro you can download the ImageStudio software containing the Face Tracking feature for free.