EverQuest 2's new facial recognition tech lets you role-play a Froglok like never before

EverQuest 2 adds facial and voice recognition for face-based emotes.

WIth SOEmote for EverQuest 2, Sony Online Entertainment says it's "putting the role-playing back into our role-playing game." SOEmote is the new voice and facial recognition technology coming to the MMO that lets players bring real world facial expressions into the game via a webcam.

"While you play, the game analyzes your key facial points," David Georgeson, director of development for EverQuest, says. "And as your face moves, so does the face of your in-game character."

In addition to giving players unprecedented facial control over their Froglok (or the race of their choosing), SOEmote also includes "voice fonts" that allow players to change their voice to sound like a troll, ogre, halfling or gnome.

Georgeson demonstrates how SOEmote will work in EverQuest 2 in this ever-so-slightly disturbing video.

Sony Online Entertainment will be showing SOEmote for EverQuest 2 at E3 2012. Georgeson says SOEmote will be released "soon."