If you’ve ever watched a television show or movie and remarked that CGI characters don’t quite look lifelike next to their fully human counterparts, you’ve found yourself in the uncanny valley – a theory that, perhaps as is most aptly said, ‘hypothesizes relationship between the degree of an object’s resemblance to a human being and the emotional response to such an object.’
In its own bid to surpass the valley, Epic Games has announced its own browser-based software tool, powered by the Unreal Engine, which can design high-fidelty human faces with realistic body movements.
In a video, Epic has revealed two examples of its ‘metahumans’, which demonstrate how well the technology performs. Epic has further confirmed that the MetaHuman Creator can not only be used for gaming, but further for film and television.
“Up until now one of the most arduous tasks in 3D content creation has been constructing truly convincing digital humans. Even the most experienced artists require significant amounts of time, effort, and equipment, just for one character.”, said Vladimir Mastilovic, Epic’s vice president of digital humans technology, in a release to the press.
“After decades of research and development, and thanks to bringing companies like 3Lateral, Cubic Motion, and Quixel into the Epic family, that barrier is being erased through Unreal Engine, and we’re thrilled to introduce MetaHuman Creator”, he continues.
Interested creators can sign up for updates on as the technology progresses – though it may not be long before we begin to witness MetaHumans make their leap from video games into cinema.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.
