MAKE: Blog: Makers want their own avatars...

Makers want their own avatars...

Ok folks, remember that cool web camera from Logitech that has an "avatar and accessory" feature that maps characters and objects on human faces real time? (Video here). Well, our interest was in the files, which seem like they're moddable - so far we were able to view the XML files and "see" the JPEGs used, but not change them quite yet. Logitech, for some reason doesn't seem to want to let folks make their own - article here. That's OK, we understand their reasons. So, instead of waiting for a custom avatar or accessory maker from them, we're offering up a reward - help us make some custom ones and get a year of MAKE or any item from the MAKE store.

Just download one of the avatars (like this Skull pirate) or this Beer can hat and start poking - On Mac OS X I renamed them .zip, unstuffed and was able to few the XML files, the images, I'm going to try some other apps and also a hexeditor to see what's in them. On PCs, some Makers have reported that they're just .cab files.

Related:

Face Accessories - Link.
Avatars - Link.
Video of the camera in action - Link.

Update: I used EXTRACT.EXE to get the files out, and MAKECAB.EXE to make a new set... Since I still cannot read the images, I tried replacing one image from one CAB (LVF) to another, seems like it would work right? It didn't I'm assuming they check for the number of bits / give them each an ID... I'll keep trying...

Posted by Phillip Torrone | 04:32 PM
DIY Projects, Electronics | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

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2 words MAX HEADROOM baby!

i would kill for that one

Posted by: tacom8 on May 05, 2006 at 11:40 PM

OK, I'm not much of a computer DIY guy, so I'll have to rely on some hacker to figure out how to do this, but a perfect avatar for this Webcam would be the Laughing Man logo from the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series. There is probably a hundred hackers out there working on this one, but just in case I figured I'd put a bug in someone's ear.

Posted by: AlgernonSpitt on May 05, 2006 at 05:40 PM