Dwyane Wade’s head is so realistic that George Borshukov, the thirty-five year old director of creative research and development at gamemaker EA Sports couldn’t figure out what to do with it.
Borshukov originally found a way to digitally create an animated version Wade’s head two years ago as part of a planned one-on-one sequence in a video game, but couldn’t make the ultra-realistic rendering work with the comparative crudeness of the background images in the game.
Now the young basketball superstar’s head looms large in a round LED television kiosk, where, in the kiosk’s public debut, he implores visitors to Wired NextFest to try to sink a jump shot. (Admission is free to the future tech pavilion in Chicago’s Millennium Park and is open through October 12.)
Little kids seem to love the head the most. After walking up, Wade’s eyes seem to register your presence and then he suggests that you try taking a jump shot.
Wade’s eyes look up as if following the shot, then judges it, including one dismissive deadpan, "That was lucky".
Kids break into wide grins at Wade’s attention – as if getting thrown a jersey by Mean Joe Greene.
They react much differently – though just as amazed — when the kiosk’s 3D camera notices a person approaching too closely, and Wade leans forward and snarls.
The console has never been shown outside of EA Sports’s lobby, and Borshukov stuck around for a few days after the NextFest opening, clearly relishing watching people interact with his creation.
"I wanted to bring this to the masses who would not be able to meet him and have Dwayne Wade comment on their shot," Borshukov said, noting that women and kids seem to find the most joy in the realism.
The 35 year-old Borshukov is no stranger to creating photo realistic images.
Indeed, he won a technical Oscar for the technology used in the famous The Matrix fight scene sequences.
The magic of the stunningly realistic image of Wade is found in how the software imitates how light scatters under human skin – giving Wade’s skin the softness we recognize as human, according to Borshukov.
Inspired by the popularity of the Nintendo’s Wii, Borshukov is now also interested into having gestures, rather than button-smashing, control games in the future.
The kiosks’ 3-D camera can register the position of someone’s face, hands and jump height, and once the technology improves, the camera could replace controllers that currently have to be held or strapped to the body.
After trying a few jump shots, a user can stick out a fist, putting the console into a mode where Wade tracks their face as they move up and down and side-to-side.
From there, users can also change to a mode where their body controls the camera angle, letting them see Wade from multiple vantage points under his Adam’s apple and making clear that the image is computer-generated not a video.
The interactions with Wade are limited, however, since the current level of realism can only be sustained with phrases actually recorded by the video’s star.
Borshukov doesn’t expect this level of realism to enter video games anytime soon, but does see it showing up in mini-games and ad consoles – giving people a way to interact with their heroes.
In fact, EA is already pairing with Gillette to let amateur golfers tee up against Tiger Woods and have him comment on their drive or lack of it. That is likely to be ready by Super Bowl time 2009.
Correction: This post originally included a misspelling of Dwyane Wade’s first name.
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