Despite launching in 2004, EverQuest II is looking impressive high-tech, thanks to an advanced new facial recognition system that tracks your expressions in real-time. Dubbed “SOEmote”, this new technology uses your PC’s webcam to track key points on your face, mirroring that information on your EverQuest II avatar’s face.

As demonstrated by development director David Georgeson, this new feature will be a good companion to the other half of SOEmote, a voice modulator system called “Voice Fonts,” which adjusts your speech to fit the role of the character you’ve chosen.

Given how distorted voice modulation can sound on Xbox Live and PSN, this isn’t nearly as grating on the ears. In fact, it’s really a thing to see in action, and like one YouTube commenter has already pointed out, the SOEmote facial animations look like something you’d see in a cartoon, like South Park’s famous “Make Love, Not Warcraft” episode.

EverQuest II has been trucking along with a variety of expansions ever since its 2004 PC launch, shifting over to the ever-popular free-to-play model last year with its “Age of Discovery” update.

Source: EQ2Videos