| Hraesvelg |
06-10-2009 06:04 PM |
Project Natal struggles with dark skinned people
Project Natal has been receiving high mark in terms of innovative technology and unique ideas. However, not all is well with the concept, or so it would seem. During E3, N’Gai Croal wasn’t having as easy of a time with Natal during a Paradise test drive.
Dan Hsu on Bitmod describes: “When game consultant and former Newsweek writer N'Gai Croal gave Paradise a test drive, however, the game had trouble reading his steering actions. The footwork (gas and brakes) worked fine, but Croal couldn't steer his car at all. It wasn't clear whether this was a problem of calibration differences between Tsunoda and Croal's very different body types, or if Croal's crazy dreadlocks threw Natal off. But it was working just fine when Tsunoda was at the "wheel."”
Different body types? Could Natal be so sensitive that certain body structures and physical builds throw off the calibration of the camera? That’s certainly a possibility or is it that the camera simply had a hard time detecting Croal because of his skin color? This is actually quite possible. In a test report of Near-infrared spectroscopy, the technology does have a problem detecting darker skinned individuals.
In the report: "The NIRS device failed to register tissue saturation values at some point in nine of seventeen volunteers. This occurred more often in individuals with darker skin. Conclusions. In patients with a dark pigmented skin, NIRS StO2 measurements should be interpreted with caution, as melanin clearly interferes with the quality of the reflected NIRS signal."
Hopefully, the development team is aware of this situation and finds a solution. This could be catastrophic if not taken care of immediately.
-Matt Furtado
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