The New AI Tech Turning Heads in Video Manipulation

A new technique using artificial intelligence to manipulate video content gives new meaning to the expression "talking head." An international team of researchers showcased the latest advancement in synthesizing facial expressions--including mouth, eyes, eyebrows, and even head position--in video at this month's 2018 SIGGRAPH, a conference on innovations in computer graphics, animation, virtual reality, and other forms of digital wizardry. The project is called Deep Video Portraits. It relies on a type of AI called generative adversarial networks (GANs) to modify a "target" actor based on the facial and head movement of a "source" actor. As the name implies, GANs pit two opposing neural networks against one another to create a realistic talking head, right down to the sneer or raised eyebrow.