Into a Fit of Laughter with the Merge Lens
One of the lens modes on Nintendo 3DS Camera is the Merge lens8, where you merge your face with the face of someone across from you. What triggered the idea for that? 8. Merge lens: One of the seven types of lens mode on Nintendo 3DS Camera built into the Nintendo 3DS system. By using the inner camera and the outer camera to take a photo of two faces simultaneously, you can shoot a merged photo of the two faces.
Nintendo 3DS Camera was developed in cooperation with INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS CO., LTD.9First of all, we made prototypes in line with three different themes. For the first theme, having face recognition capability requires the capacity to pare the image down to just the face. So, we asked them to run experiments on switching faces, or making all faces the same, like the sextuplets in the manga Osomatsu-kun.
So it started when you were wondering how to apply face recognition technology.
Yes. Then another theme was to think up a game with a new structure that involved using the inner camera and the outer camera at the same time, instead of simply taking 3D photos.
Usually, even if a device has both an inner and an outer camera, you can only use one of them at a time. I think being able to use both at once is probably a rare configuration.
Right. Then, the Nintendo DSi system had the Resemblance lens10, where two people could line up and take a photo and have fun comparing, so the third theme was to put in a function that would further promote that sort of communication.
9. INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS CO., LTD.: A game developer who has developed Nintendo software, including the Fire Emblem™ series and the Paper Mario™ series, and development support tools for successive hardware. Headquartered in Kyoto.
10. Resemblance lens: One of the eleven lens mode of Nintendo DSi Camera built into the Nintendo DSi system. By photographing two people standing side by side, you can determine their degree of similarity.
In other words, first you thought of broad themes, then asked INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS to create the bases for them.
That's right. After a little while, we got the prototypes back, and they were exactly what we'd needed, so we based the current Merge lens on them.
The finished function is such that, when you touch the real thing, you'll dissolve into laughter then and there; you can't help it.
I think people tend to choose hairstyles and clothes that complement their own face, but here, only your face is switched with someone else's, so the impression feels off somehow, and it's very funny. (laughs)
When something you're not used to seeing, something off-kilter, is displayed on the screen, you laugh.
Right. When you go to sightseeing spots, sometimes you'll find photo panels in different shapes, like ninjas, you know?
Yes, the sort of sign where you put your face into the hole where the character's face should be and have your photo taken.
It's that basic premise: the other person becomes the sign board, and the merged face goes into the opening. I think it's a bit different from the usual synthesis method.
Normal face synthesis tends to use the eyes from one person, the nose from the other, etcetera, but this is different. The Merge lens may show more of the appearance of one person with the stronger face.
Um… So, when I merge my face with someone else, they end up being another Mizuki's picture all the time.
You mean, when you shoot yourself with the inner camera, it will be Mizuki-san's picture, and when you shoot yourself with the outer camera, it will still be Mizuki-san in the picture? (laughs)
(laughs)
Why is that…?
Because everyone knows your face is strong, Mizuki-san. (laughs)
Still, it's funny the way you can look at photos taken with the Merge lens and think, You know, I've seen this guy somewhere before…
Oh yes, I know him. (laughs)
I'm pretty sure I've met this guy somewhere. (laughs)
Lots of the times, with merged photos, the face you end up with couldn't possibly belong to anyone. By the way, if there's anything you plan to do with cameras in future, could you talk about them now, do you think?
Sure… But, Iwata-san, you've already… (laughs)
Ah! Did I already say it? (laughs)
When I read the first Nintendo 3DS Interviews in Iwata Asks, titled "And That's How the Nintendo 3DS Was Made," you'd already talked about video-related things, and I thought, "Oh hey, the specs are written here…" (laughs) For example, a SD card needs to be able to save lots of them. But now that we're actually able to shoot 3D images, it's really fun, and the large capacity on the SD card will really come in handy.
In other words, look forward to future updates.
Right. We're currently working diligently to produce them.
Just glancing at Nintendo 3DS Sound, which you were involved with, Akifusa-san, it's hard to tell how it's different from the Nintendo DSi system. There are several differences, though, aren't there.
Yes. First, this time, there was a project about using StreetPass, and if you register what sort of song you're listening to, you can trade song and artist names with other people.
So you'd register that in StreetPass List, then.
That's right. We tried to make it so that you'd be able to tell if a person you have encountered with StreetPass happened to be listening to the same song you were listening to, or what sort of songs were popular among the people around you. Those were challenges we set for ourselves and wrestled with.
That's why you want people to register songs on StreetPass List, once they're on their SD cards, and walk around with the Nintendo 3DS system.
Yes. I think the results will differ by neighborhood, too. The songs that are popular when you're walking around Shibuya may be different from the ones that are popular when you're walking around Akihabara. So, personally, I think I'd like to try walking around different neighborhoods. Also, and this is about the internal system now, but you can listen to MP3 files on the Nintendo 3DS system as well as AAC files; MP3 files weren't supported on the Nintendo DSi system. We've also put in a function that lets you start listening to a song from the place where you left off.
Because listening from where you left off is a perfectly normal function in regular music players.
We implemented it this time. Then, we also made it so that you can record audio data and save it to the SD card for later.
It's a bit of an audio recorder, then, too.
Yes. Since they're saved to the SD card, the number of sounds you can record has increased. I think people who are good with computers can probably use them as normal sound data as well.
In that sense, it's become more versatile as sound software, and has turned into something that people can use more often.
Right. As you said yourself, Iwata-san, it's hard to tell just by looking at it, but we've done quite a bit internally. I think the basic usability of the software has improved, compared to what it was on the Nintendo DSi system. We've also reviewed the content of Music Visualizer that's displayed on the upper screen, so I'd be glad if people had fun with that.