These last months I’ve been working on my Diplom Thesis and now it’s slowly coming to an end. The topic of my thesis is Face Detection and Tracking for Computer Games on Mobile Devices. I started out working on the Nintendo DSi, but then had to change to the Nokia N900 because the company I worked at went insolvent.
I’ve implemented two different face detection systems on the Nokia N900 of which one works pretty well. On top of that I’ve created a very simple game – a technology demo – that uses the player’s head position as the input. The game is called BurgerFace and looks like this:
BurgerFace Screenshot
The goal is to pick up the burgers that increase the score and dodge the knives that cost lives. I’ve also created a video that shows the game in action:
Now I need to evaluate how well this input method works and if it’s fun. For that, I need your help. I’ve put the game online. Download it here (764 KB). It’s a .deb package that can easily be installed on your N900 by opening the file after downloading it (it depends on SDL, SDL_mixer and SDL_ttf and yes, it’s optified). It can also be uninstalled easily through the application manager.
Please download the game and play it as much as you like. Afterwards, take the survey that asks you some questions about the game and the input method. You can either take part in the survey on your computer or directly on the N900. If you want to do it on your N900 you can easily open the survey directly from the game.
I’d be very happy if you played the game and took the survey as that would greatly improve my thesis. 
Update: I also posted this on Maemo Talk.
Update: The survey is closed now. Thanks to all participants! The download is still online though.
Tags: burgerface, detection, face, game, head, maemo, n900, test, thesis, tracking, uni
February 27th, 2010 at 00:11:35
[...] Sito Ufficiale. Discussione su maemo.org [...]
February 27th, 2010 at 13:19:09
[...] Ecco un gioco molto simpatico,si tratta di BurgerFace,il gioco consiste nel mangiare piu’ hamburger possibili,il bello é che lo dovrete fare con la vostra faccia. Infatti il gioco viene comandato con la telecamera frontale del 900,dovrete inquadrare il vostro viso e spostarlo sui panini. Il gioco é in formato deb, e lo potete trovare nel sito ufficiale [...]
February 27th, 2010 at 16:13:06
[...] Kuhlmann aka jfk has developed this game. If want to know mor about it goto his Site or look into the meamo [...]
February 28th, 2010 at 01:02:09
[...] johanneskuhlmann.de has created a game that uses the N900’s front camera to track your face and translate that as controls. [...]
March 1st, 2010 at 17:36:48
Could you implement something like this?
http://kotaku.com/5481443/there-it-is-the-most-amazing-use-of-the-nintendo-dsi-camera
March 1st, 2010 at 17:47:15
Yes, I think so. I’ve actually planned to do a demo that shows off something like that, but haven’t had the time yet. So they beat me in copying Johnny Lee (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw ).
I hope to do it after handing in my thesis.
March 1st, 2010 at 18:12:54
It is missing parts and won’t install. Any clues on getting all the dependencies? Can you host it in a repo?
March 1st, 2010 at 18:22:51
Some people also reported problems with dependencies in the TMO thread for the game. Does that help you:
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=45866&page=4#31
I’ll eventually push it into extras, but only in a few weeks. I don’t have the time for that at the moment.
March 2nd, 2010 at 01:46:47
[...] detection/tracking demo that uses the front facing camera of the Nokia N900. The game is called BurgerFace, and the task is to collect as many burgers and dodge as many knives as you can by simply moving [...]
March 3rd, 2010 at 07:47:40
will it activate the front camera or else, how can i activate the front camera?
thanks for your works
March 3rd, 2010 at 08:51:20
Hi,
The app is simply stunning. What algorithm are you using ? From where can we get the Face Tracking algorithm
March 3rd, 2010 at 08:54:47
m double u:
Sorry, if I don’t understand what you mean, but the game naturally activates the front camera. How would it otherwise get a picture of you?
March 3rd, 2010 at 08:59:33
Ashwin:
It uses the Viola-Jones face detection algorithm. Currently, you cannot get my implementation. But, if you’re interested in that stuff, you might want to take a look at OpenCV: http://opencv.willowgarage.com/wiki/
They also have an implementation of Viola-Jones.
March 4th, 2010 at 20:55:24
[...] BurgerFace è un gioco divertente e originale per N900 nato da uno studio sul face detection realizzato dallo sviluppatore Johannes Kuhlmann. [...]
March 5th, 2010 at 03:02:34
[...] johanneskuhlmann.de has created a game that uses the N900’s front camera to track your face and translate that as controls. [...]
March 5th, 2010 at 10:39:29
Is there any documentation or code you might point me to on how to access the front camera on the n900? Thanks in advance.
March 5th, 2010 at 11:01:59
Shawn:
Yes, you can either use Video4Linux2 (V4L2) which is pretty low-level or you can use GStreamer which is a little more user-friendly. Both are pretty common in the Linux world, so you can basically just check their general documentation (not specific to the N900).
There is some documentation in the Maemo Wiki:
http://wiki.maemo.org/Documentation/Maemo_5_Developer_Guide/Using_Multimedia_Components/Camera_API_Usage
And here is a similar question on Maemo Talk:
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=44396
There is more stuff in the forums, just search for it.
March 6th, 2010 at 06:53:53
[...] Download it and read more about here:- http://johanneskuhlmann.de/ [...]
March 8th, 2010 at 20:56:57
after downloading what to do ? i mean while opening it asks which apps to use to open the file…
March 8th, 2010 at 21:13:58
If you have the latest firmware it should open the application manager automatically.
If you don’t have the latest firmware you have to have rootsh installed (it’s in extras) and then do:
-Open X Terminal
-Type:
sudo gainroot
dpkg -i MyDocs/burgerface_0.1-1_armel.deb
March 10th, 2010 at 23:38:48
thanks jfk i did that but now it shows an error regarding dependencies what are these…? pls help me i wanna play this game…
March 10th, 2010 at 23:48:21
What exactly is your error? Is it similar to the one show here:
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=45866&page=2#13
If so, do the posts by ioan help you?
March 11th, 2010 at 00:04:39
hey jfk its working after doing dpkg -i thing i checked for the update it app manager and there i found the update i updated it n its working….nice game
thanks a bunch for creating this game n helping me get it installed…
March 11th, 2010 at 00:09:32
ya i was facing the same problem…thanks again
March 11th, 2010 at 00:12:50
Thanks and have fun!
March 11th, 2010 at 09:44:18
when i open the file it sais: unable to open file some packages r missing and i detail then i open the reason it sais libsdl-ttf2.0-0 is missing plz reply as soon as possible and thx for ur help
March 11th, 2010 at 10:21:14
That problem is also solved in the thread linked above.
Install rootsh (it’s in extras) and:
- Open X terminal
- Type:
sudo gainroot
apt-get install libsdl-ttf2.0-0
Afterwards, try again to install BurgerFace. Hope that helps.
March 11th, 2010 at 18:26:23
Hey, is your thesis going to be ready and published soon?
I’m working on my bachelors degree and doing a short research on a similar topic and I might like to cite your work, if its ready before summer.
March 11th, 2010 at 18:34:20
Well, I’ll be finished soon, but I doubt that it’s going to be published in any way. Keep in mind that this is a Diplom thesis (equivalent to a master’s thesis). Of course, I could send it to you, but unfortunately it’s in German only. :-/ So I don’t know if that would help.
March 11th, 2010 at 19:34:05
Ich kann auch ein bisschen Deutsch sprechen, so es würde nett sein, ob du mir deine Diplomarbeit schicken könntest. Then I could at least see if it is helpful for me.
Danke schön!
March 11th, 2010 at 19:44:57
Alright!
I’m going to hand it in next week and I’ll also send it to you then. In case I forget you might want to remind me.
March 13th, 2010 at 07:19:46
Hi there, I am really interested to try out your game but can’t seem to do so, Been trying to install the game through x-terminal but kept getting error messages. Would this game be available for download direct from the repository ?
March 13th, 2010 at 11:23:05
I think I’ll push it into the repositories soon, but not yet. There is still some work that needs to be done.
What are the error messages you get? You could check the Maemo Talk thread as a few problems related to installing the game are mentioned there.
March 25th, 2010 at 08:56:44
[...] Since the game is still in development stage, Johannes (the developer of game), would be more than happy to read about your comments and improvise the game before the final release. So do leave your feedback with Johannes. [...]
April 28th, 2010 at 22:07:33
[...] Face Detection And Tracking On The Nokia N900 [...]
April 29th, 2010 at 12:47:27
[...] maemomaniaci! Il developer di Burger Face per Nokia N900, un giochino/demo che utilizza il riconoscimento del volto, è di nuovo al lavoro [...]
April 29th, 2010 at 14:51:21
Dude, you’re like my favourite Maemo developer right now, and ur haven’t gotten anything in the repos yet! I hope you will publish the thesis on your blog as well, I’d love to read it
May 17th, 2010 at 11:33:21
[...] Face Detection And Tracking On The Nokia N900 Categories [...]
June 5th, 2010 at 16:39:58
i cant install burger face it need some installation package how can i install it..
June 5th, 2010 at 16:59:18
himani gupta: What is the error message you get?
June 25th, 2010 at 07:14:57
hey i cant figure out the problem trying to download burger face but it says some missing packages like libsdl or something…im not an expert but really wanna install this game please hellpppppp..the above link dint help me :S
June 25th, 2010 at 07:15:31
plus i have d latest firmware of n900