The more realistic the computer characters become, the more frightening the resemblance is.
Epic’s future Unreal Engine allows game developers to create and customize models of real human characters using software called MetaHuman Creator – which allows developers to adjust facial features, skin complexion and build from predefined body types , clothes, hair and even teeth.
Some may find the preview of MetaHuman Creator scary, but even so, it is worth the walk through the mysterious valley of similarity to real people.
The new Unreal Engine allows you to create realistic digital humans
Unreal’s sneak peek video is no different from another game called “Sims 4” and allows players to customize specific points on a digital face, manipulate cheekbones or lips, or modify the shape of the nose.
You can raise or lower the eyebrows and change the shape of the jaw and the height of the ears. Makeup exists for a reason, and even the length of the lashes can be changed. The program also includes a slider to manipulate the size and depth of facial wrinkles.
While many of these features are also available in “Sims 4”, Unreal Engine breaks with its doppelgänger by enabling cloud-based storage – meaning you can build realistic virtual humans directly in your browser, without the need for independent software ( game disc or top-of-the-line computer processor).
Unreal Engine’s new character design moves into the mysterious valley
When you’re done, you can export your creation and download it directly to the Unreal Engine desktop application – and see it look self-conscious. This is because realistic creations come ready to be animated and work with motion capture in movies, games and a handful of other visual media.
And you don’t have to be a game developer to know how much time it can save.
This new technology is so good at emulating human facial movements that it almost slides into the mysterious valley – a perceptual phenomenon in which humanoid robots or computer-generated faces look almost identical to the real thing you feel about to be deeply disturbed by the experience .
The next decade may change the nature of face-based identification
If this seems like your ideal night, Unreal Engine has made two character samples fully prepared for users of MetaHuman Creator. The fully loaded program is still in development, but is expected to be released later this year.
Recent advances in AI and deep learning technology are to blame for this new realistic facial modeling software, but AI is also leading to better animation of full-body movement – so subtle that a character’s lips can speak a sentence as convincingly as real human life.
Based on a recent graphical breakthrough – which allows developers to build CGI skin (and pores) – you wouldn’t be wrong to think that the next decade’s deepfakes could change the nature of face-based identification forever.