Face-controlled apps are here — and they are about to transform how we interact with our devices
By tapping into the expressiveness of our faces, face-controlled apps and games will soon reshape and expand our smartphone experience. The applications include gaming, accessibility, social media, and more.
When we made the jump from computers to smartphones a decade ago the number of digits we used for input decreased from 10 fingers to 2 thumbs. The pros outweigh the cons in many situations but we lost a lot of expressiveness in the process.
Using our face as an input device restores the dexterity we lost when when we ditched the physical keyboard.
The iPhone X contains a “TrueDepth” 3D sensor that, when combined with Apple’s ARKit APIs, can interpret facial expressions. After you grant them permission (and they undergo an extensive Apple review process to ensure they respect rules regarding data usage and user privacy), apps can use this data to access things like your “left eye blink percentage” or “mouth close percentage”.
