Image Metrics has raised a Series B round of funding to the tune of $6.5 million, led by Saffron Hill Ventures. The extra capital will be used to advance R&D on the company’s impressive facial animation solutions, which are primarily of interest for the film and gaming industry.
You might remember Image Metrics from ‘The Emily Project‘, which went viral over the Summer and made quite a few jaws drop (video below). The company provides its technology for known players like Digital Domain, Sony Computer Entertainment and Rockstar Games, which it partnered with for making Grand Theft Auto IV look more realistic than previous versions of the best-selling game.
Its mission is, in essence, to create believable facial performances that emotionally connect
audiences to digital characters in movies, games and other forms of entertainment.
Developed over the past seven years by a team of Ph.D. physicists and experts in automated computer vision(ing?), Image Metrics has offices in Santa Monica, California and Manchester, UK, and employs about 30 people. We’re still trying to find out how much funding they’ve raised in total so far.
Update: apparently $4.2 million was raised in July 2002, which would bring the total to about $10.7 million now.
automated computer visioning = automated computer vision
Thanks, but computer visioning is a form of advanced engineering.
I had not heard the term ‘computer visioning’ before, nor had my PhD advisor, a professor who wrote one of the more common textbooks in the area.
I’m pretty sure the more recognized term is Computer Vision.
Yeah, it’s Computer Vision. But whatever.
Contour seems better. More points of reference.
http://www.mova....php?g=examples
Not really. The process really falls down around the mouth area and the eyes are pretty souless in comaparison.
is girl on the video is an animation? both of your answers would not surprise me?
Супер, вы свoей статьей меня сильнo выручили – давнo искал эту инфoрмацию!
@Emily: as far as i know, the only digital part of the Emily-video is her ‘face-plate’, which you can also see from the screenshot above: there is some color difference in her face (on the edges). At the end of the video they show you the wire-frame: that is the part that is digital. The rest is from the actual video (which is analysed by the Image Metics Software after which the ‘face plate’ can be replaced with something else.
Virtual Reality is greater than or equal to reality in terms of how we see it now. Am i right?
“Verbing wierds language.” — Calvin and Hobbes
Note that ImageMetrics did the facial animation/effects for the film “Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons” though they are not publicising it. Truly impressive.
The technology is great but the eyes give it away every time. The are still life less.
I agree with Kevin, the eye’s have it… or in this case don’t have it. It’s getting better though. Who did the work for “Avatar”?
weta digital in NZ
Impressive, all other computer vision systems are difficult and have huge equipment.
I think this will be the future of this sector.