Read My Lips
Computers that observe facial expressions could personalize online communications, make video games more interactive, and read lips to help recognize speech. But facial expressions change so quickly and unpredictably that computers have trouble keeping up. At Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, computer scientist Guangyou Xu has developed software that takes video of a person’s face and traces an accurate outline of the lips from frame to frame. Xu first trained a computer to draw the 2-D outline of a goldfish swimming back and forth in a bowl; from this, he developed an algorithm that represents the complex motion of lips using just a few mathematical parameters. That enables the computer to learn the lips’ typical range of movement, so it can distinguish them from other features, like teeth, more accurately than current techniques. Xu is in discussions with companies to commercialize the software, which could be used to make video games and online chat rooms more vivid and, eventually, to analyze surveillance video.
Keep Reading
Most Popular
This new data poisoning tool lets artists fight back against generative AI
The tool, called Nightshade, messes up training data in ways that could cause serious damage to image-generating AI models.
Rogue superintelligence and merging with machines: Inside the mind of OpenAI’s chief scientist
An exclusive conversation with Ilya Sutskever on his fears for the future of AI and why they’ve made him change the focus of his life’s work.
The Biggest Questions: What is death?
New neuroscience is challenging our understanding of the dying process—bringing opportunities for the living.
Data analytics reveal real business value
Sophisticated analytics tools mine insights from data, optimizing operational processes across the enterprise.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.