This stuff fascinates me...

...you too?

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1763468

Heard of the "Uncanny Valley"? This is the idea, advanced--incredibly--about 40 years ago by a Japanese theorist. He suggested that as simulations of humans approached perfection, that there would be a sudden drop-off in apparent human-ness near the more realistic end of the scale.

This effect is best exemplified by the creepy, soulless, vacant quality seen in Final Fantasy, Polar Express, Beowulf and Heidi Montag. Ha ha -- too easy.

Scientists have been reliant on using this kind of sampling (detailed scans, motion and performance capture) to claw partway up the far side of the Valley--and approach something that is recognizably human.

I suppose that such performance capture data will be subjected to mathematical pattern analysis so that common facial expressions can be placed in series in a plug-and-play way, even blended into one another. Thus we may doom the performance smarts that we can see in the best Disney and Pixar animators, who can make emotions--strong or subtle--ripple over characters faces so relatably that they seem to reveal the characters' thoughts. The skills that animators took a century building may be replaced with samples ...

JH