Production Process

Alter Ego was largely developed within the Department of Medical Physics at University College London. Originally conceived as an artwork, Alter Ego draws together practical and theoretical concerns from a wide number of discourses, among them psychoanalysis, cognitive science, HCI, and digital game studies.

By tracking twenty-two points on the face we can fairly reliably distinguish fifteen different facial expressions. These include: smile, laugh, sadness, fear, surprise, anger and disgust.

We have built up extensive databases of spontaneously and consciously made facial expressions. From this research we learnt that subtle differences in meaning and intention which are normally clearly read by the human eye are very difficult to measure mathematically.

The Alter Ego is made up of a series of morph targets. Each target model has been individually sculpted to create a realistic range of expressions.