Scientists create animated human that bridges the "uncanny valley"

Didn't read everything, so somebody's already pointed this out most likely.

You still need original audio and a human actor. Audio isn't that hard to fake, but lipsyncing perfectly is. This technology, as it is right now, would not make faking video that much easier...

Originally posted by aleon1018
Animation is one thing, but, I haven't much doubt they already can do this with some to even give the illusion we're watching a live news feed. We do seem to be heading down that matrix road anyway if we aren't already in it.

We are already in it.

It is called Fox News.

They have a talking animatronic torso called "Hannity" and...

Originally posted by DisabledVet
Erm......

So was that really a tape of Osama Bin Ladin telling us about future terrorist attacks?

In the documentary Zero: an investigation into 9/11 Euro-parlementarian Giulietto Chiesa describes a briefing for EU politicians from 2005 that was produced by the Washington Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS).

The presentation was based on a fictional incident of nuclear terrorism in Brussels. Following the fictionalized incident, the EU audience that was invited to the event was presented with a digitized version of Osama Bin Laden claiming responsibility for the attack.

Chiesa relates that the parliamentarians present at the briefing were dumbstruck. The authenticity of the "confession" video was stunning. It led one unnamed politician to stand up and question the veracity of all of the OBL videotapes that have been presented to the public since 9/11. Chiesa says that CSIS would not allow the makers of Zero to use their digitized OBL in the film.

911blogger.com...

Interesting, how several reviewers have pointed out ' her ' weaknesses.
Her... mind you.
I'm afraid they' ve got us now. We knew since HAL 2001 that it would happen eventually.
DNA is being patented, and it's doner doesn't own it... and now gesture and vocal modelling.
Great techicians, man.

Funny how people keep saying "can't wait for this quality to be in games".
The modeling quality has already achieved that, in various games.

Animation is still the only problem, but then again, this *was* a real human with a ''fake'' face, not a completely 3d rendered character that got some motions from a motion capturing device.

Originally posted by oxgoad
Didn't read everything, so somebody's already pointed this out most likely.

You still need original audio and a human actor. Audio isn't that hard to fake, but lipsyncing perfectly is. This technology, as it is right now, would not make faking video that much easier...

and how do u know this? Do u honestly think this video is the best out there? how can you OR me say for that matter what can be done, IMO if this is being done by a college, then our government has been tweaking it for at least 10 years.

I can see it now. In the next election beyond the one coming up this fall, the Republicans will nominate a super-computer for their presidential candidate. The computer will do the thinking and the animation/image on the screen will have all the features most likely to be accepted by the public.
He will look like Brad Pit, but think like Einstein.
Maybe the world will be a better place!

reply to post by Anonymous ATS


NOW THAT is AWESOME!! WOW! identical matching of the real person even in voice!

The only technology that is on display here is facial animation capture, the look of Emily's face was probably rendered with off the shelf software.
Emily's digital model would have to be precisely rigged to achieve a good transfer of animation, someone also has to apply shaders, model, light, tweak animation possibly, track and composite etc... It's great technology but it still takes a bunch of artists and a performance to create the illusion.

This software looks really good, it puts films like Beowolf to shame, but I still think we're a long way off seeing something which challenges reality. When that time does come games and films will enter a whole new level, and I expect everyone will be leading some sort of virtual life. So many new laws are going to come into place its going to be crazy. The films Total Recall and The Matrix come to mind.

Blinking - where is the blinking - like those automatons we call politictians...

This is awesome.

I didn't read the bit where she was cgi. I sat there saying, well show me the cgi then. I only noticed it was fake when the colour of her face changed.

Bring on the holo-decks..

From the article: "..a new modelling technology that enables the most minute details of a facial expression to be captured and recreated."

"Emily" did not look human to me. As to "minute details", her skin was all wrong and the facial expressions flat. Lots of eye movement and showing of teeth does not a human appearance make.

Give me an actor in latex and foam rubber prosthetic makeup with a fiberglass suit anyday:
www.youtube.com...



Hildegard

This is the beginning and I absolutely don't like it.

Honestly, it's amazing humans have created a computer to mimic us. Yet, I can't help but feel this is just wrong...or scared.

Originally posted by Hildegard_vonyork
From the article: "..a new modelling technology that enables the most minute details of a facial expression to be captured and recreated."

The article is wrong, it has nothing to do with modeling, it's a form of mocap, motion only, Emily's look is not what it's about.

The only thing more scary than reality is when you can't tell when something is not. Recently, I got the pleasure of having an interview with two people overseas. It wasn't practical that we should meet face to face since it is so easy any more to talk via direct connects. What really made this meeting interesting was these two people I was talking with had a really odd lifestyle. They had chosen, through very clever and probably very expensive computer software, to alter their voices. Also, they used something alot like that to make their image for the meeting when talking. The combined effect was that some days I was speaking with a women when before they had been a man and sometimes a man when they had been a woman. Sometimes it was a child and sometimes it was moogle. If you don't know what a moogle is, there's really no reason to, but for amusement's sake. A moogle is a pink little bear with wings that flaps and sometimes has a bell that it carries. It's a Japanese thing...
These two people pretty much did this as their lifestyle day in and day out. Really strange... but what was unsettling was the level of detail and realism they could make from the combination of this kind of stuff. I'd personally love to have something like that which would talk for me during business interactions.