SOFTER VIRTUAL SKIN.

SAN Diego (Calif.); PALO Alto (Calif.); CALIFORNIA; UNITED States

UNIVERSITY of California, San Diego ; STANFORD University

JENSEN, Henrik Wann; HANRAHAN, Pat

The article highlights the development of a software that renders virtual skin in a more realistic way, by computer scientists Henrik Wann Jensen of the University of California in San Diego, and by Pat Hanrahan of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California in April 2004. Computer-generated human faces usually look plastic and unconvincing on the silver screen, and one of the biggest problems is getting simulated light to bounce off the skin just right. A graphic artist defines the shape and color of the face,the lighting conditions, and the translucency of the skin, the software then uses physics to calculate how light is absorbed and scattered beneath the surface of the simulated skin. That gives the skin a softer, more diffuse, and more natural look than previous computer models did.