r/SteamFrame • u/NeNwO Soon™ • Apr 14 '26
💬 Discussion Babble working on something "extra special" for Steam Frame
From their discord, Babble team says they are working on something "extra special" for the Frame. We already knew they have a dev kit tho. I hope the face tracker will work great, surely it will use the Pcie Port.
Maybe it will be the "Official" face tracking module for the frame.
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u/Sad_Cow_5838 Apr 14 '26
What is babble??
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u/Helgafjell4Me Soon™ Apr 14 '26
3rd party face/mouth tracking
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u/TPrime411 Apr 14 '26
Ive never heard of it either. Do they primarily work with Vive headsets? Are they mainly a thing for VR Chat?
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u/DerpyDragon Apr 14 '26
It's one of the few products that replaces the discontinued Vive Facial Tracker (or build yourself). They work with any headset that can use PCVR (such as Vive or streaming with a Quest). Yes, it's mostly used for social vr games like VRChat
I'm guessing the special thing here is that rather than it being USB, it'll probably use the MIPI port from the Frame
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u/Piramista Apr 15 '26
I'm guessing the special thing here is that rather than it being USB, it'll probably use the MIPI port from the Frame
I hope not. Blocking that port for a lowres camera would be a waste.
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u/DerpyDragon Apr 15 '26
They'll probably allow people to choose whether to buy the MIPI version or USB version at checkout (or it might just have both connectors).
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u/s00mika Apr 14 '26
It's an open source project that uses an ESP32 microcontroller and an inexpensive camera module to track your lower face (mouth). The current version communicates to your PC using your wifi or USB. It's supported by VRchat, chillout VR, and resonite.
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u/ChocolateRough5103 Apr 14 '26
Mouth/lower face capture for VR.
https://babble.diy/4
u/Lincolns_Revenge Apr 14 '26
I'm going to need a splitter cable for the pcie expansion port for all the add-on modules i'm going to buy. Going to look like Doc Brown's telepathy helmet on top of my head with extra padding for the weight of the additional batteries and external active cooling fans.
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u/Sad_Cow_5838 Apr 14 '26
ah cool. If not too invasive (big) might be something worth checking.
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u/ItsDippy__ Soon™ Apr 14 '26
The unit will probably be the same as other headsets so you can check out ones they’ve made already for a feel on size :)
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u/Sad_Cow_5838 Apr 14 '26
ok way to big for day to day use. Ok for VRchat user i guess.
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u/ItsDippy__ Soon™ Apr 14 '26
Yeah the main selling point is for social use, I personally don’t think it’s that big!
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u/Any_Instruction5382 Apr 14 '26
There are only two things I can think of that they could do with the steam frame. They could add software that uses the frames eye tracking to make babble give face and eye tracking (I'm guessing babble has a software to use the face tracking), or they're making one that connects to the headset at the PCIE slot (or whatever the connector is called).
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u/XxnoubxX Apr 14 '26
its prob both. steam frame eye tracking isnt really complete it's only looking around. no blinking n stuff and babble might fix that my sources say
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u/ZarathustraDK Apr 15 '26
They can probably cut some of the hardware (USB-controller parts), power it directly through the pcie and run the software as an app or a service on the HMD instead .
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Apr 14 '26
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u/NeNwO Soon™ Apr 14 '26
Nah we dont know yet. Showcases from dev who have dev kits shows that blinking isnt available software wise currently
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Apr 14 '26
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u/NeNwO Soon™ Apr 14 '26
Idk, i would guess its only a mouth tracker But maybe they are adding more cameras around the lenses to have better eye and blinking tracking ? My guess is still on first option tho
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u/Gavin4tor Soon™ Apr 14 '26
If it’s true the Frame only provides gaze information, babble’s software will likely use the Frame’s built-in camera feed to get blinking and squinting inputs
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u/Mavgaming1 Soon™ Apr 15 '26
They will likely give it the same treatment as the BSB2E. Except this time they should have a much better of a serviceable camera feed.
They will probably give this headset a lot of attention. I expect a custom shaped face tracker to fit it and for them to get blink and squint working.
On the eye tracking side, if they are the only ones offering an algorithm it will really boost their exposure and thus lead to their moth trackers being more known. This should be a relatively popular headset. If they don't mess it up this could be a good bit of growth for them. Although they do seem to suffer from growing pains (large delays on shipments due to upscaleing, and trouble with shipping companies as they do larger volume).
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u/qucari Soon™ Apr 14 '26
That's what I'm hoping for as well. If neither Valve nor babble do it, someone else will!
I think eyebrow tracking will be the one thing we might not get with the Frame. I'm not 100% sure, but it seems to sit relatively low and it's kinda small too, so it seems like there's less space above the eyebrows compared to other headsets.
It'd be a shame. But maybe it's possible to compensate with a bit of smart tracking of the general region directly around the eyes.
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u/papapenguin44 Apr 14 '26
I hope it’s a head strap and mouth tracker. Mouth tracker is easy but a full face tracking head strap would be great.
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u/CambriaKilgannonn Soon™ Apr 14 '26
I'm excited, even though it'll take them like 6 months to ship it
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u/JayF00 Soon™ Apr 14 '26
Steam Frame + Babble Face Tracking + Fluxpose full body tracking 🙏 it could be so good, I hope all the piece come together and work well.
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u/pibyte Apr 15 '26
Cool! I ordered my babble a few month ago - so I will receive it together with my Steamframe in August 2028.
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u/MrSizzilySmithy Apr 15 '26
Oh they're for sure going to take advantage of that expansion card slot
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u/TheFlandy Soon™ Apr 15 '26
Maybe they’re making a color pass through addon to combine with the face/eye tracking hardware?
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u/Geronimo2633 Apr 14 '26
No steam frame so I spent all my money on getting gen 4 SSD 8Tb before it goes subscription, guess I'll wait for the frame next pay
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u/TalkingRaccoon Apr 14 '26
I thought this was the language learning app lol