See-Through Face Display: Enabling Gaze Communication for Any Face$\unicode{x2013}$Human or AI

TL;DR

The paper introduces a compact, low-overhead see-through display system that improves gaze communication in remote interactions by enabling mutual eye contact with minimal artifacts and physical space.

Contribution

It presents a novel transparent display with a synchronized camera system that enhances gaze awareness without complex image processing or large form factors.

Findings

Enables natural gaze interaction in remote communication

Requires minimal physical space and computational resources

Reduces visual artifacts compared to software-based gaze correction

Abstract

We present See-Through Face Display, an eye-contact display system designed to enhance gaze awareness in both human-to-human and human-to-avatar communication. The system addresses the limitations of existing gaze correction methods by combining a transparent display with a strategically positioned camera. The display alternates rapidly between a visible and transparent state, thereby enabling the camera to capture clear images of the user's face from behind the display. This configuration allows for mutual gaze awareness among remote participants without the necessity of a large form factor or computationally resource-intensive image processing. In comparison to conventional methodologies, See-Through Face Display offers a number of practical advantages. The system requires minimal physical space, operates with low computational overhead, and avoids the visual artifacts typically associated with software-based gaze redirection. These features render the system suitable for a variety of applications, including multi-party teleconferencing and remote customer service. Furthermore, the alignment of the camera's field of view with the displayed face position facilitates more natural gaze-based interactions with AI avatars. This paper presents the implementation of See-Through Face Display and examines its potential applications, demonstrating how this compact eye-contact system can enhance gaze communication in both human-to-human and human-AI interactions.