Leaving the uncanny valley behind

Say hello to Ira. His head is visible on a screen, as though he's in a videoconference. He seems to be in his early 30s, with a shaved head, a pronounced nose, and thin eyebrows. Ira seems a little goofy and maybe just a wee bit strange. But unless you knew his full name-it's "Digital Ira"-you probably wouldn't guess that he's nothing but bits. As Digital Ira affirms, graphics specialists are closing in on one of their field's longest-standing and most sought-after prizes: an interactive and photo-realistically lifelike digital human. Such a digital double will change the way we think about actors, acting, entertainment, and computer games. In movies, digital doubles already replace human actors on occasion, sometimes just for moments, sometimes for most of a feature iilm. Within a decade or so, computer game characters will be as indistinguishable from lilmed humans as their movie counterparts. And in time, this capability will help bring movies and games together, and out of the union will come entirely new forms of entertainment.