ureadit

Sorry for the short blog this evening, but I’m running out of time. My wife, son and I went out to see the movie Avatar, and we just got home.

I thought Avatar was a fairly good movie. It has wide appeal to several types of people:

The special effects used in the movie were the product of a lot of computer-generated animation based on the movement of real actors. Basically, the computers read from cameras that were pointed at the actors. The actors wore special sensors that provided information regarding their stance, their movements, facial expressions, and so on. The computers then drew the animated characters based on all this information. It’s a great way to get realism into an animation, as it is difficult for programmers to mimic the smooth, non-linear movements of humans.

This technology has been around for a number of years, and it’s not something limited exclusively to Hollywood. You can experiment with it on your own using a Logitech camera. The Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000 comes with software that can read your facial expressions and then model an avatar upon it. I did this with my own face: I asked the computer to model a dinosaur's face after my own. The result is what you see at the top of this posting. It moves, blinks its eyes, opens and closes its mouth - all in real time, based upon movements in my face.

I anticipate that this technology will continue to evolve for home use. The demand will be driven by services like Skype, which allow you to broadcast your live video as well as audio. Some people don’t always feel comfortable in front of a camera, especially when they’re asked to attend a business meeting and they haven’t had time to get out of their pajamas. In those cases, they could use an avatar modeled on their face, and then let their avatar attend the online meeting. The avatar will have a clean-shaven face, perfect hair and a business suit.

Regarding the movie Avatar, I recommend you go see it. And then prepare for your next online business meeting with an avatar of your own.

Best,

Dan

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