This video is a bit on the dry side, but watch it all the way through. It's a demonstration of a new 3D facial rendering technology by Volker BLanz and Thomas Vetter of the MPI for Biological Cybernetics in Germany. It does a lot of amazing things, but the most striking is the ability to map a 2D photograph (or even painting) into a realistic, pose-able, 3D model. In the video, stills of Tom Hanks, Audrey Hepburn, and DaVinci's Mona Lisa are used to create very realistic looking 3D models of the heads. They're even able to change the lighting and have added elements to the pictures (such as a hat) cast realistic shadows.
Combining this technology with rapid prototyping could lead to some very cool physical reconstructions of historical figures. I imagine it could also have a lot of potential for forensic reconstruction. I wonder what would happen if they applied this technology to the image on the Shroud of Turin. Very cool.
Today we took our cat, Pigpen, in to the MSPCA clinic over in Boston to be spayed. (Apparently the vet in Illinois where Jessi got her didn't spay her as we discovered when she went into heat for the first time a few months ago...) Thanks to SNAP (Spay-Neuter Assistance Program) the procedure only cost us $60. That, of course, does not include the cost of having a cat who we didn't let eat since midnight last night (she was searching all over the condo for food this morning), stuffed in a box (which she hates), drove in the car (which she hates), and then left alone with strangers (which she hates), in a strange place (which she hates), full of other cats (which she's never really experienced before), where they did all sorts of strange things to her. She is not going to be a happy kitty when I go pick her up this afternoon. I imagine she'll go straight to her hiding place under the bed and not come out for a very long time. The only real consolation for her is that our good friend Brian works at the MSPCA so there will at least be a familiar face around. We also, a little while ago, got a call from the MSPCA clinic saying that in the course of her surgery they found a mass near one of her ovaries. They think they were able to remove it all, but we're still paying another $50 for a biopsy. Hopefully it will turn out to be benign and we won't have to subject her to the indignity of a car ride again for a long time.
In other news, you may notice a new, big, grey thing in the sidebar of my blog. It's the beta version of the AutoRoll widget from Criteo which I was informed about in an email from Peter, a project manager at Criteo. Apparently it works by tracking which blogs (that have installed the widget) each unique user goes to, and then displaying for each user a list of blogs that they're likely to enjoy. Seems like a really cool idea to me, so I'm giving it a shot. Of course it can only really be any good if lots of people install it on their blogs, so give it a shot!
Hmm, I think that's about it for now. I've got some work to do before I go rescue our poor bewildered cat from the clutches of the evil veterinarians.