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Recently, in one of our work pitches at Firstborn, we were asked whether we could create a web-based application that could use your webcam to track the position of your eyes. We didn’t know for sure that would be possible (or to which level of accuracy) so we decided to spend a few days creating a test prototype. This is the result, running on Flash 10.

The red circle represents the perceived position of my eyes, and the green line is just a line that moves with a speed that is based on the circle position (when the circle is on top, the line moves up; when the circle is in the middle, the line stays; when the circle is at the bottom, the line moves down).

It uses a face tracking algorithm for initial face detection, then some other color-separating code to find where the eye is looking at in real-time. An initial calibration is necessary (the code must know when the eye is looking at the top and at the bottom of the screen; then it can find where you’re looking at, in between those two).

The face detection used an AS3 port of OpenCV, based on the work of Ohtsuka Masakazu and Mario Klingemann with a bunch of modifications for speed and varying levels of accuracy (nothing too crazy though, just better for our specific use case).

The result was SoBe’s Staring Contest, where you have to keep your eyes in a specific part of the screen to “win” the game (try the “experimental version” for the eye-tracking webcam version; otherwise it’s a mouse-based game). It doesn’t work in all situations – it relies heavily on the amount of light available at the visitor’s environment, and on the visitor’s ability to not rotate their head too much during the experience – but I still consider it a success.

As a developer, it’s very important to take some time out to try not only new techniques but also new platforms. The tools we have available for us change constantly and to keep up you need to make time for some private investigation of new methods and capabilities. This time for research & development with something that may or may not be fruitful is hard to come by, but it’s certainly of utmost importance in this career. It’s also fun, of course.

This recent presentation by Joon Park, our Chief Creative Officer, talks a little about this, talking not only about the above example but also about some other great “personal” projects by some of our developers that started as an exercise but turned out to be so much more.

P.S. As always, we’re hiring.

I may have forgotten to mention, but in addition to Flash Developers, Producers and others, we’re also hiring a serious JS/HTML/CSS developer for our New York offices. Do you wanna work with some of the best people in their field, in a place that is challenging and fun? Then Firstborn is the place you’re looking for.

I love it here.

Firstborn – the company in NYC I work for – is hiring new interns and other talents for 2010! To quote,

Whether you’re a student blazing your path to digital superstardom or you’re well-versed in the interactive world and hoping to expand your experience, we’re looking for the best of the best to take it to the next level as a Firstborn intern.

Our interns aren’t treated like nobodies – they’re here to gain knowledge and improve their skills by working on high level, award winning work. You’ll have the chance to work closely with the Firstborn team on a number of projects and campaigns that include strategy and planning, concept development and design,

Flash programming and animation, 3D modeling and motion graphics, video production and editing, iPhone and mobile application development… and anything else that comes to life in the digital world.

All of our intern positions are paid and you will also receive a monthly Metrocard, a roundtrip flight to NYC if necessary and other fun extras. Our internships usually last 3 – 8 months and could open the doors to join the Firstborn crew or be the jumpstart you need to launch an exciting career.

For consideration, email us a little information about yourself, your resume and a list of URLs or your portfolio to jobs.intern@firstbornmultimedia.com

You can find a full listing of the positions available here. And you can also watch our new intern video below – our homage to Nike’s iconic “Take it to the next level” spot.

No, I don’t appear in the video. I’m not photogenic enough. Or, to use my favorite excuse, I was too busy doing actual work.

Looking for a change of pace, living in one the craziest cities in the world with some extremely creative people who drink a lot and like to swear like drunk scotsmen? Or maybe you already fit into that description and you’re just waiting for the authorization to enter the building? Here’s your chance, Gringo is now looking for a senior Flash/Actionscript developer and they mention relocation is OK. Find more information about the ideal candidate here.

Top-level Brazilian agency Gringo is looking for a SilverLight developer. Gringo is located in São Paulo, Brazil, and this is for an on-site role. Details follow (in Brazilian Portuguese).

Enfim, a Gringo precisa de um profissional SilverLight pra se juntar à sua equipe supercompetente de desenvolvedores. O candidato ideal irá trampar a princípio de agora até março na Gringo, desenvolvendo um projeto bem bacana. Valores são negociáveis, e é imprescindível que o profissional cumpra prazos e toque o projeto sem maiores surpresas.

Quem estiver interessado, favor contactar Mylena Mandolesi no email mylena (arroba) gringo.nu.

Acho que não preciso nem falar nisso, mas a Gringo é uma agência que mais do que recomendo a qualquer um. Pra quem curte SilverLight, esta é uma puta oportunidade de trabalhar com uma equipe extremamente criativa e competente.

North-American studio Firstborn releases their new portfolio, not only showcasing 10 years of a great collection of websites developed but also showing how Flash can be integrated with the browser to allow full history navigation and bookmarking. The result’s pretty good, and a website worth exploring.

Also, apparently they’re still looking for people to join their ranks on their New York and Los Angeles offices, so if anyone’s interested, here’s my recommendation of a great company to work at.

São Paulo-based studio Gringo.nu is still looking for Flash Developers. More information about them and about what they’re looking for on this previous post.

Brazilian web studio Gringo.nu – the company I freelance for – is hiring Flash developers!

Candidates looking to join their ranks should have vast experience in AS 1/2 and breath OOP. Having AS 3 knowledge/experience is a plus, but willingness to research and learn is even better. They should love what they do and be committed to pushing the boundaries of the platform further both visually and technically with each new work. This is for full-time, on-site roles; Gringo is based on São Paulo, Brazil.

The studio is focused on creating rich advertainment websites that differ from generic websites. They have won several prizes on their relatively short life of one year and a half, including several FWA site of the day awards and a couple of recent bronze Cyber Lions on Cannes 2007. They have an awe-inspiring crew and work with some of the coolest clients from all over the world, so it’s a terrific place to work at. Apparently they also have a Nintendo Wii in the studio, although I haven’t personally certified it yet. Visit their website for more information about the company and the kind of work they do.

Interested candidates should send an email to quero@gringo.nu with all information needed – including a bit about yourself, your experience, and links to previous work.

The game and engine development studio id Software – creators of the first person shooter genre and classics such as Wolfenstein 3D, DOOM and Quake – are looking for an user interface designer, among other roles; more information here. Apparently this is for website development only, although they mention it’s work for “a small focused team on an unannounced project”.

Undoubtedly, the biggest challenge when implementing some feature on Tweener is deciding on the syntax to be used – that is, doing the syntax design itself. It can’t be too complex, or else it’ll be too convoluted to use, but it also can’t be too simple, or it won’t be able to do everything it could; it has to be flexible, but still be straightforward. The funny thing is that once the syntax is decided upon, the implementation follows easily; I’ve spent literally months deciding on how some features should work, then once the “Eureka!” moment arrives, it’s just a matter of a couple of hours until it’s implememented.

The most recent of such challenges was implementing beziér curves on tweenings. At a simplistic level, this feature allows for an object to slide on screen by following a curved path; at a more complex level, it allows any number of properties of a object to follow a complex ‘path’ of values until it reaches its destination.

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