During the I/O 2024 event, Google announced that Project Gameface will now be available on Android, allowing users to navigate their devices and enhance their gaming experience through facial gestures and head movements.
In a recent blog post, Google revealed that Project Gameface is coming to Android. It will feature support for 52 unique facial gestures to navigate your device. Each of the recognised gestures can be assigned to a certain system action, such as opening your mouth to move the cursor and raising an eyebrow to click and drag.
Project Gameface requires no additional hardware and is operated by the device’s front camera along with MediaPipe’s Face Landmarks Detection API to monitor facial expressions and translate them into cursor commands.
“Through the device’s camera, it seamlessly tracks facial expressions and head movements, translating them into intuitive and personalised control. Developers can now build applications where their users can configure their experience by customising facial expressions, gesture sizes, cursor speed, and more,” Google stated in its post.
Project Gameface is currently available only as a developer tool and is now open sourced on Github. The tool won’t be a native Android feature at this time. Meanwhile, Google is partnering with Incluzza, an Indian social enterprise that provides support for people with disabilities, to learn about the use of Project Gameface in schools, social gatherings, and work settings.
Google initially unveiled Project Gameface at the I/O 2023. The tool serves as a hands-free mouse that lets users control a PC’s on-screen cursor through a user’s face. This notable advancement in accessibility technology was inspired by Lance Carr, a video game streamer living with muscular dystrophy, a disease that causes progressive weakness and loss of muscle mass.