DICE Exploring Battlefield 4 Head Tracking Via Kinect

In an interview over at the official Xbox blog, DICE has revealed how they plan to leverage the Xbox One’s unique features for Battlefield 4, including head tracking for the Kinect.

In the same interview, DICE also hints at other uses for the Kinect, including peeking, leaning, and giving out voice commands.

For those unfamiliar with the technology, head tracking is something that’s already being promised on VR headsets such as the Oculus Rift and the upcoming PS4 headset. Basically, the headset will track down your head turning left and right, and interpret that as you wanting to move in said direction accordingly. Descriptions we’ve received from the gaming press and industry who have tried the Oculus Rift so far imply that the device can do head tracking very accurately, and is a fit for first person shooters.

However, DICE’s statement implies that Kinect can duplicate this ability already. We already know that Xbox One’s next Kinect can gather a far larger amount of data, and demonstrations have also revealed that the technology can also be highly accurate, so the idea that Kinect alone can duplicate a key feature of the Oculus Rift is not out of the question at all.

Of course, it also remains questionable if this application will prove useful for games like Battlefield 4 at all. This is really something that we will not be able to verify for sure until players have had an honest try at it, probably weeks or even months after the tech goes to retail. If Kinect proves capable, however, and considering it gets bundled with every console, it will definitely be an ace Xbox One holds above its competitors.

Source: Xbox