To solve for that, Li and his team treated the face like a geometry problem. They trained their algorithms on a set of faces and expressions that allowed them to build statistical 3-D models that could describe, generally, what a face looks like across different populations and in different environments. With that computational model in hand, the algorithm can more easily match itself to a face’s 3-D point cloud and create an illustrated avatar that mirrors facial expressions in real time.
So far, visual effects companies have mostly used this technology to streamline their production process. But the mainstream will soon experience it though features like Apple's Animoji and Intel’s Pocket Avatars, which uses facial recognition software to turn your face into a digital avatar.
Li says face mimicking emoji are only the beginning. He now runs Pinscreen, a startup looking to automate the creation of photorealistic computer graphics, where he and his team are working on technology that would allow algorithms to build a hyper-realistic 3-D avatar based on a single source photo.
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