????沒有什么能比一顆活生生的頭部更能代言“未來”。隨著開發(fā)及設(shè)計(jì)人員紛紛著手研發(fā)下一代的游戲娛樂系統(tǒng)，這項(xiàng)預(yù)示著最新計(jì)算機(jī)生成圖像效果的技術(shù)已經(jīng)取得了進(jìn)展。而這意味著一件事——我們將看到更多令人毛骨悚然、卻又不由驚嘆的3D合成頭像。

????美國(guó)動(dòng)視（Activision）在上周于舊金山舉辦的一年一度的游戲開發(fā)者大會(huì)（Game Developer's Conference）上展示了他們的最新技術(shù)成果。這家游戲開發(fā)巨頭的研發(fā)部門昨天發(fā)布了可以生成的渲染技術(shù)及代碼。此處所示的動(dòng)態(tài)人物是在顯卡設(shè)備上實(shí)時(shí)渲染而成的。它意味著類似的創(chuàng)新技術(shù)要不了多久就會(huì)出現(xiàn)在各類商業(yè)性產(chǎn)品上。

????“我們將讓大家看到，每一處細(xì)節(jié)才是表現(xiàn)真實(shí)感的秘訣。”大會(huì)演示之前，研究人員喬治?吉梅內(nèi)茲在自己的博客上寫道：“對(duì)我們來說，這場(chǎng)挑戰(zhàn)面向的不僅僅是娛樂應(yīng)用，更多的是要打造一種媒介，能夠更好地表現(xiàn)情緒、引發(fā)玩家共鳴。我們相信，這項(xiàng)技術(shù)能夠?yàn)楝F(xiàn)世代的游戲角色注入次世代的生命。”

????抱著這種想法的開發(fā)商并非僅只動(dòng)視一家。芯片制造商英偉達(dá)（NVIDIA）最近在該公司于加利福尼亞召開的GPU技術(shù)大會(huì)（GPU Technology Conference）上大力鼓吹實(shí)時(shí)面部渲染技術(shù)。這套名為“面子工程”（Face Works）的程序采用了美國(guó)南加州大學(xué)（University of Southern California）創(chuàng)意技術(shù)研究所（Institute of Creative Technology）開發(fā)的面部及動(dòng)作捕捉技術(shù)。它的核心系統(tǒng)“燈光舞臺(tái)”（Light Stage）將處理通過攝影捕捉到的、精確到0.1毫米以內(nèi)的演員面部參數(shù)。它也可模擬出光線穿過皮膚進(jìn)行傳播以及反射的效果，渲染臉紅等各種精細(xì)的情緒表現(xiàn)。

????索尼（Sony）出產(chǎn)的游戲機(jī)Playstation 4于今年更早時(shí)候發(fā)布時(shí)，馬克斯?馮?西多曾上臺(tái)露了下臉——以互動(dòng)式3D人物的形式。創(chuàng)意工作室Quantic Dream創(chuàng)始人大衛(wèi)?凱奇演示了游戲機(jī)制造商推出下一部硬件設(shè)備時(shí)可能呈現(xiàn)出怎樣的圖像。（為什么會(huì)有這么多老年男性的面部圖像？具體原因不明，但是或許跟渲染各類延展曲折的皺紋難度很高有關(guān)。）

????所有這一切似乎有望掀起一輪關(guān)于所謂的“恐怖谷”（uncanny valley）的爭(zhēng)論。這項(xiàng)理論認(rèn)為，人類復(fù)制品——機(jī)器人或是計(jì)算機(jī)渲染出的角色——在視覺上開始變得越來越寫實(shí)卻又不是純正的人類，這會(huì)讓真實(shí)的人類看到他們時(shí)感到反胃或憎惡。（將人類面對(duì)不同渲染程度的仿制人類所表現(xiàn)出的心理舒適度繪制成一張圖表后，問題中的“谷”指的就是圖表中的低谷區(qū)。）這個(gè)問題暫時(shí)尚未阻擋住工程師拓展技術(shù)疆域極限的嘗試——或許他們指望著能夠?qū)崿F(xiàn)蛙跳式的進(jìn)展，從而從根本上繞過這個(gè)問題吧。

????譯者：薄錦

????Nothing says "the future" like a disembodied head. As developers and designers begin churning out the next generation of games and entertainment, the pace of technology demos showing what types of computer-generated graphics will soon be possible has picked up. And that means one thing: more creepy-yet-astonishing 3D-generated heads.

????Activision (ATVI) is showing off new technology at the annual Game Developer's Conference, taking place in San Francisco this week. The rendering techniques and code that create life-like animation were unveiled by the gaming giant's research and development division yesterday. The animated character shown here is being rendered in real-time on current video card hardware, suggesting innovations like these could be showing up in commercial products sooner rather than later.

????"We will show how each detail is the secret for achieving reality," wrote researcher Jorge Jimenez on his blog, before the presentation. "For us, the challenge goes beyond entertaining; it's more about creating a medium for better expressing emotions and reaching the feelings of the players. We believe this technology will bring current generation characters, into next generation life."

????Activision isn't alone. Chipmaker NVIDIA (NVDA) recently touted real-time face-rendering at its GPU Technology Conference in California. The program, dubbed Face Works, employs face- and motion-capture technology developed at the University of Southern California's Institute of Creative Technology. The center's Light Stage process records data to within a tenth of a millimeter using photography that captures the geometry of an actor's face. Light transmission through skin -- the key to rendering subtle emotional cues like blushing -- and reflections can be recreated as well.

????At Sony's (SNE) Playstation 4 launch even earlier this year, actor Max von Sydow made a brief appearance on stage -- as an interactive 3D model. David Cage, founder of innovative studio Quantic Dream, demoed what kinds of graphics would be possible on the console maker's next hardware release. (Why so many old men? It's not clear, but it may have something to do with the complexity of rendering wrinkles that move and bend.)

????All of this is likely to kickstart another round of debate about the so-called "uncanny valley." That concept suggests that when human replicas -- either robots or in computer renderings -- begin to look realistically but not perfectly human it can make real-life observers feel queasy or revolted. (The "valley" in questions is the dip in a graph of the comfort level of humans presented with a rendered human likeness.) As of yet, that hasn't stopped engineers from pushing the boundaries of what's technology possible -- perhaps in hopes of leapfrogging over the problem entirely.