LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (CBS Tampa) – Scientists employed by the
Walt Disney Company have developed technology that allows them
to replicate, with near perfect accuracy, the very versatile
human face. Documents posted on the official Disney Research
website details plans for what they refer to as physical face
cloning. “We propose a complete process for designing,
simulating and fabricating synthetic skin for an animatronics
character that mimics the face of a given subject and its
expressions,” the document states. Scientists and researchers
based in a Zürich lab were motivated by the idea of translating
the company’s ability to create realistic virtual worlds – seen,
for example, in movies released by Disney-owned Pixar – into
tangible actuality. “We are naturally intrigued by the prospect
of creating virtual humans in the likeness of ourselves – and it
is not far-fetched to say that this is also a driving force for
computer graphics research,” the document noted in its
introduction. “While the latter strive