Chicago startup Personify is working on technology that even Sheldon Cooper would be impressed by.
The six-year-old company is improving the way people telecommute and video chat by using three-demisnional laptop cameras that change the background during a video call, essentially creating a virtual green screen. The technology leverages Intel's RealSense technology, and was recently featured in an Intel ad with Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons. In the commercial, Parson's coaches the socially awkward actor through the background changing technology, and is then taken through a tour of his clown collection.
Personify, @IntelRealSense and Jim Parsons are on a mission to end socially awkward #video calls https://t.co/U7NC2ANDxD #Bazinga!
— Personify (@PersonifyInc) May 12, 2015
Personify CEO Sanjay Patel recently told the Wall Street Journal that he thinks RealSense's technology will roll out with tens of millions of notebooks this year, as all major PC manufacturers have models ready to incorporate it. The technology could also soon be used in phones and tablets, he added.
Personify's background removal technology could be used in a number of fields, from gaming, to business collaboration, to education.
"Imagine watching a movie online with your friends, or playing a game together while being able to see their faces, not in a separate video window, but together and overlaid in the same space, sharing the experience as a group," Patel said back in January. "With Personify, that experience is possible today. From the beginning, our vision has been to make a video call feel more life-like and Intel's RealSense technology has enabled us to make that vision a reality."
Initially developed at the University of Illinois, Personify is headquartered in Chicago and has offices in Silicon Valley and Vietnam.
Screengrab via YouTube
