3D: MotionPortrait Animates Still Photos, Turns On Internet Dating World
MotionPortrait has released a new photo imaging program of the same name that can take a regular 2D picture and transform it into a moving, smiling, talking 3D model. According to the company, a one-gigahertz CPU can handle the 2D-to-3D transformation, which then allows the user to change eye color, hair-style and facial expressions. The CG animation can even be synced with sound to respond to various inputs.
This is easily one of the best picture-to-CG animations I've seen. Sure, it's not flawless -- but if the company keeps improving on it, it can open up a whole lot of interesting features for social networking sites and video games. Unfortunately, the program can only be used through companies that put it into their own products -- but I'm expecting a 3D animated Yuri to be doing obscene gestures my friend's cellphones in the near future. [SciFi via UberGizmo]