This article was taken from the March 2014 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Hao Li wants to put you at the heart of the action with an easy way to scan yourself into your favourite video games
The next Grand Theft Auto may feature Hao Li as an in-game character -- and you could be in it too. Li, a computer scientist and animator at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, works on building hyper-real 3D models of people, and animating them in real time. "My work involves using a video camera that sees in 3D to capture subtle facial details, movements and expressions," he explains. "So you get digital characters that look alive."
In October 2012, he built a home scanning system that uses a Kinect to render people in a realistic miniature version. "Next, we are exploring how we can translate your motion and make the figure move."
Before running a lab at USC, Li, 33, developed technologies for animation at Industrial Light and Magic in California. "We have a real-time virtual production technology that understands the performance of an actor, without a motion-capture suit," he says. The sophisticated game-like engine was used to produce special effects for the upcoming Star Wars films. Currently, Li's lab is recreating realistic human faces and hair: "We are crossing the uncanny valley."
Ultimately, he wants to broaden the applications of animation: "Our technology can track on-the-fly the subtle motion of the body," he says. "This could be used in sectors such as medical diagnosis."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
