Everquest II launched in 2004, around the same time as World of Warcraft. While Blizzard"s MMO game became much more popular, Everquest II still maintains its own core audience. Now the game"s developer and publisher, Sony Online, has announced it will add a new feature to Everquest II that promises even more character interaction in the game"s world.
Sony Online calls the new feature SOEmote. Basically, it"s a facial recognition system that works if an Everquest II player has a webcam on their PC. The player"s head sits in front of the camera while he or she is playing Everquest II. As the player talks, moves his head and moves his facial muscles, the SOEmote feature translates those movements so that the player"s character replicates those changes.
You can see SOEmote in action iin the video above, as Sony Online"s Dave Georgeson uses it with his Froglok character. In addition to the facial recognition features, a player"s voice can also be heard in the game and can even be altered to sound more like the character you are playing.
Sony Online hasn"t said when SOEmote will be added into Everquest II but said it should be included in an update "soon".
Source: Sony Online