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LGR Oddware - Reality Fusion GameCam
🕑 Added 2022-08-16 13:21:45 +0000 UTChttps://youtu.be/VBoaPeXoMf4
Greetings folks, it's time for more Oddware! It's the first one filmed completely at the new place so there are some teething issues, mostly regarding audio that I'm still sorting out since I'm setting up several recording areas at the same time and none of them have been full treated for sound yet. But overall I think this one turned out nicely! It sure was a whole lot of fun to put together at any rate, heh.
Much of it thanks to the device itself: the 1999 Reality Fusion GameCam, built in partnership with Logitech! There have been many similar ideas and related devices in the world of computer vision and gesture-controlled gaming over the years, but Reality Fusion was at the forefront in terms of bringing it home to the masses. The appeal of the GameCam is that it took what previously required costly, specialized video equipment and software, and pared things down to work on a standard USB webcam. In the late 90s! You may have even owned a webcam or two that had some of this capability bundled from the factory as a freebie in the early 2000s, whether you used it or not :)
And that is all for this episode! At this point I'm not sure what's next since I'm at a production crossroads, as unavoidably occurs every so often. The "main big thing" I was working on for the past few weeks has been stopped dead in its tracks for a while until I can either source parts or get existing components repaired that go beyond my skill level, so that sucks. So I'll have to begin working on something else and I don't have anything lined up yet. Meaning that the next video will likely be somewhat smaller in scope, but eh, we'll see.
Enjoy this Oddware in the meantime and have a nice week!
Comments
Travis
Your the man thanks
LGR
Yeah with old drives even just breathing on it wrong can seemingly make things go haywire, heh. Could be any number of dozens of issues though.
Travis
The volleyball absolutely sent me. Dude another project question, I am trying to get a Digital HiNote VP Laptop to run an I can't get it to detect the hardrive. My dad (former biz guy at digital, alta vista, etc) said it booted up fine before he gave it to me. Is it possible that a drive like that can die just from being disconnected and reconnected? I slid it out to look at it before powering on. Thanks as always man, I have a acquired so many projects now after watching you i cant stop haha.
LGR
For sure, and you can see during the intro and outro where I'm sitting at a table? I'm wearing a lapel mic on my shirt there. Sitting down and speaking into a camera is pretty much their ideal use case.
Nachts
Wow, thanks for the response!! I genuinely had no idea or ever thought of those issues. Now I'm wondering if that is why so many news anchors wear super thick outfits or try not to move too much. The never ending spiral of thoughts lol.
LGR
Thatβs how I recorded that section at first, but you know what you get with a lapel when youβre moving all over the place? You get sounds of moving all over the place, lots of rustling and fabric noises from my shirt where the mic is rubbing against things as well as louder breathing since the mic is so close. Not to mention the cord getting in the way and being a general nuisance on my body. It can be a hassle and the results werenβt worth it, as there was still echo due to the room itself being so empty, and I also had harsh noise being recorded from my movement. So I switched to the overhead boom mic and had a significantly better time, even if a bit more echoey :)
Nachts
I enjoy all of your videos, and this is no exception! This is more of a ponder, not a critique or complaint... I wonder if a lapel mic would reduce a little of the echo when flailing about with webcam objects in that room? Edit - Had to come back after thinking.... kudos on the top-notch editing! Pretty seamless transitions between the webcam and real cam!
LGR
It'll be incorporated into the final one for sure
LGR
It relies on that particular camera driver from Logitech to be running, so I'm doubtful. Though there are lithe Logitech cameras from the time that should work.
T. Rillener
This was great! The volleyball game was hilarious, especially at the end where the AI could not get the ball over the net.
Andrew Ferguson (DominateEye)
I wait for videos to hit my sub box before watching them, but I had to say I really hope that's the image you use for the final thumbnail. Or part of it, at least. Tech channels need more chaos and destruction!
SupaPhly
Does it work with other webcams of the time? what if you tried on the newest webcam that Windows ME can support
LGR
Haha awesome, glad you enjoyed π
LGR
Thanks! Itβll certainly be changing a lot over the coming months but itβs nice to have a good chunk of things out on display and accessible :)
LGR
Iβd nearly forgotten just how bad 98 could be with early USB and imaging devices. Nearly, ha. I soon recalled just how much of a pain in the EVERYTHING that I had back then getting my first webcam and scanner to work. Dark days!
LGR
Yeah Iβm truly impressed by the background removal, when it works as intended it really looks great for 240p or whatever
LGR
Thanks!
LGR
I imagine it has to have been done, right? At least on mobile, all those devices have great sensors now.
LGR
Definitely a closet toy.
Gary Leigh
Seems like one of those things that you play for an hour or so, then put it away forever.
Garoninja
It would be interesting to see something like this with today's video processing and webcams. Maybe it would be accurate enough to get a good game of volley ball out of.
Uncleawesome
This was way better then I thought it would be. And you hitting yourself as a baby with a tripod was hilarious :D Awesome video!
PiraTed
New setup, new "oddware video", & that baby sumo model... I knew it! This is Clint's unofficial vtuber debut!!! Can't wait for the collabs.
Rob Caporetto
I'm honestly impressed at how they were able to get a decent enough level of background removal going on late 90's consumer PC gear. Especially knowing how rough webcams were at the time. Even if the games themselves were a bit naff, it's still some neat odd tech. And yes, seeing the context for that tripod being brandished about certainly means a lot. :)
Graham O'Mara
Reinstalling Windows - Les Barker
Graham O'Mara
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycWAl3Fg6MQ
Adrian's Digital Basement
LOL. I'm very glad I didn't ever have to go through those driver struggles that thing created. Imagine if this ruined your main Windows 98 install back in the day! I would have been so angry... Really ahead of it's time tech though, I give it that. :-)
John Piscopo
Its crazy how Gaming consoles always get the credit for this kind of new tech even though it had already been in use on PC's for years!
Jurassic_Jacob
I'm liking the new talking head studio set.
M.T.
Watching you break down laughing at the volleyball animations made my day, lol- thanks for sharing.
Mr. Spectacals
This is the most fun I've had with an LGR episode in a long time. Great video. It's amazing how simple the tech is the more you think about it. You could easily use a modern Webcam and python code to replicate the experience.
Alyxx the Rat
Holy balls that's impressive for 1999 tech!
Zachary Outen
LGR beating up baby sumo LGR with a camera tripod, this one definitely earned the title of odd ware lol
LGR
They're all stock sound effects used, so I don't doubt that π
DFawlt Uzr
Either I've watched too much Cold Ones, or one of the sound effects in the Karate game sounds like "Jeff" from the my name is Jeff meme π
LGR
Very much ahead of its time, especially with their ambitions to use the tech for changing backgrounds on-the-fly when video conferencing. Something I didn't notice people really doing until the last several years! Intel Digital Movie Creator sounds familiar as well. My first digital camera was a cheap little Intel thing and I think it might've come with a version of that, I'll have to check. I do recall it being able to do some similar trick video effects when hooked up as a webcam.
Miles H
To be honest, this seemed very ahead of it's time. It was like the taste of what would eventually be VR/AR. I had a "Intel digital movie creator" as a kid in the late 99's/early 00's, that thing was fun! You could add "special effects" and the like to it. Still have most of our videos too, though I had forgotten just how bad the resolution was.
LGR
Hope it lived up to expectations, haha
LGR
Yeah it's definitely really sensitive to light changes, especially if there are shadows behind you. Which is like, all the time π
LGR
Ha! Too true.
Stuart Castle
Ironic that the Intel competitor was called the βMe Tooβ
Patrick ODonnell
Great video. I actually don't even remember this being a thing in '99, weird. The Logi cam brings back memories, though. Kinda makes me want to jump on IRC. :)
Myles MAN
Great thumbnail haha
Valora Inverse
The tripod beatdown screencap's context was so much wilder than I could have possibly expected, holy shit.
Simon Pain
Amazing bit of kit & great video. It looks like as time went on and the lighting in the room changed that it couldn't do the background replacement properly. That makes sense if it took an empty frame at the beginning and then is looking for changes from that to do the subtraction.
Deckard Games
I dig the new setup and omg does that look more like a monstrosity creator worthy of spore.
Braxen
EyeToy nostalgia!
