Computer Graphics  

A newly developed technology that uses an inexpensive facial mapping method can recreate and replace faces of celebrities, but the technology may also have applications in creating digital avatars and mindclones.

Soon, nearly everyone with a computer will be able to create inexpensive, controllable computer models of famous people’s faces in 3D just using online photos of celebrities, or anyone.

"This capability opens up the ability to create puppets for any photo collection of a person, without requiring them to be scanned," write the researchers from the University of Washington.

The researchers also were able to recreate idiosyncrasies, like facial ticks, of the celebrities they modeled, including Kevin Spacey and Daniel Craig. This work could let us interact with digital avatars that look and act like people we know.

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Typically, creating CGI models of a human face is expensive and requires laser scanning and motion capture technology. The researchers postulated that for celebrities, there are more than enough paparazzi photographs online to capture digitally what they look like from just about every possible angle.

"The idea was to create realistic virtual models of people just from photos rather than complex lab set-ups," says researcher Ira Kemelmacher-Shlizerman. Led by Supasorn Suwajanakorn, the team collected around 200 photos each of various famous people from Google Images, taken in different poses and at varying angles.

"Don't underestimate how much people want to be someone else."

The photos were analysed using face-tracking software, and a realistic 3D model for their face and head created. Further analysis added wrinkles and textures that appear and disappear as expressions change.

"The result is a full 3D model you can turn right around," says Suwajanakorn.

As well as being able to manipulate the digital puppets any way they wanted, the team found they could realistically switch an actor's face with that of another – allowing them to be replaced throughout an entire TV show or movie, for example.

A real potential commercial application could be to provide famous animated faces for visual versions of Siri-like assistants, says Suwajanakorn. Another might be to automatically create 3D faces for telepresence robots, says Nicole Carey at humanoid robot maker Engineered Arts in Penryn, UK. "Don't underestimate how much people want to be someone else," she says.

The face of someone who has died could be recreated and driven with one of the emerging breed of chatbots trained – using the deceased's tweets and emails – to converse like them.

The system may also be useful for creating mindclones. "Our model could bring back your memories of the people you care about," says Suwajanakorn.




SOURCE  New Scientist

By 33rd Square

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 Transhumanism  

Speaking at the 2013 Global Futures International Congress, Martine Rothblatt explains how the end goal of technology is to overcome death. From therapeutic pharmaceuticals, to mindclones Rothblatt paints a detailed picture of the potential of digital immortality.

Recently talks given at the 2013 conference, Global Future 2045 International Congress were made available online.  One of the most inspirational discussions was given by Martine Rothblatt, on how technology's overall goal is to end death.

Well known to the transhumanist community, Rothblatt, the visionary entrepreneur,  lawyer, author, and founder of Sirius satellite radio and United Therapeutics.

"Described broadly biotechnology is the creation of medical tools to enhance life processes. What is rarely even whispered, though, is that the real goal of biotechnology is the end of death."

Rothblatt, the author of Virtually Human: The Promise---and the Peril---of Digital Immortality, describes the critical skills the technology entrepreneur needs based on her experience in satellite communications and life science companies to achieve living mindclones in the decades ahead.

According to Rothblatt, closely related to these entrepreneurial skills are the social and policy interactions needed with governments and NGOs.  Through this, Rothblatt is working to help ensure the Avatar Project of the 2045 Initiative is welcomed as a positive contribution to building the world as it should be.

Rothblatt's expertise in biotechnology came from her role in saving her daughter's life. Motivated by her daughter being diagnosed with life-threatening pulmonary hypertension, Rothblatt entered the world of the life sciences by first creating the PPH Cure Foundation and later by founding United Therapeutics. "Today instead of three thousand people having pulmonary hypertension, 60,000 people have it, that's because there are 57,000 people who have it who would otherwise be dead, but are alive because a pharmaceutical treatments that are able to help them manage their condition."

"Biotechnology creates some of mankind’s most remarkable and much loved products, from treatments to forestall blindness to cures for several cancers. Described broadly biotechnology is the creation of medical tools to enhance life processes. What is rarely even whispered, though, is that the real goal of biotechnology is the end of death," describes Rothblatt. "This is taboo because it is politically incorrect at best, and Galilean in its challenge to established theology and moral philosophy. Nevertheless, because biotechnologists undertake to cure diseases, and because death is generally the victory of disease over life, the ultimate goal of biotechnology is in fact the end of at least unwanted, non-violent and non-accidental death. "

Rothblatt thinks that the next step for biotechnology is in the cybernetic and digital domain. "The vanguard of biotechnology is in the digital domain where preparations are being made for transplanting the mind from a diseased brain, or an end-stage diseased body, to a computational substrate. I call this process creating a mindclone, and it enables effective immortality for a person’s consciousness."

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Working with David Hanson, she has created a prototype of this first mindclone prototype, Bina 48 (shown above).   Rothblatt intends to "transplant" minds into robotic Avatar prosthetics like Bina 48.

According to Rothblatt, the mindcloning process involves: creating a mindfile, a collection of your mannerisms, personality, recollections, feelings, beliefs, attitudes and values.  This can be based on computer files, cloud files or even your Facebook account.

"Over the next two or three decades, there is a rapid effort to develop 'mindware,'" states Rothblatt. "Mindware is software that analyzes a mindfile, tunes itself to reflect a consciousness operating persona that reflects the same mannerisms, personality, recollections, feelings, beliefs, attitudes and values that are in your mindfile. So mindware is a consciousness operating system."

Rothblatt argues the development of artificial intelligence, including deep learning, today is essentially the development of mindware.


SOURCE  2045 Initiative

By 33rd Square

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