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Application (pre-grant publication)

GRAPH SIMULATION FOR FACIAL MICRO FEATURES WITH DYNAMIC ANIMATION

Number
20240346733
Published
2024-10-17
Filed
2024-04-05
Assignee
DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC.
Inventors
Bradley; Derek Edward et al.
CPC
G06T13/40; G06T15/04; G06T17/00; G06T17/20
Verdict
Low Notable software
Source
Google Patents · FreePatentsOnline

The keeper's note

Graph-simulation technique for facial micro-feature animation (related).

Abstract

The present invention sets forth a technique for simulating wrinkles under dynamic facial expression. This technique includes sampling a plurality of nodes from a three-dimensional (3D) representation of a facial structure, wherein each node represents a pore in the facial structure. The technique also generates one or more edges, with each of the one or more edges connecting a node of the plurality of nodes to a different node selected from the plurality of nodes. The technique further generates a wrinkle graph comprising the plurality of nodes, the one or more edges, and a plurality of edge weights associated with the edges included in the wrinkle graph. The technique may also modify the 3D representation of the facial structure based on the wrinkle graph and one or more dynamic expressions associated with the 3D representation.

Background

BACKGROUND Field of the Various Embodiments

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to machine learning and computer vision and, more specifically, to techniques for modeling facial wrinkles under dynamic facial expression. Description of the Related Art

The accurate representation of facial micro features, including wrinkles and other skin texture, is an important step in creating, rendering, and animating digital avatars and other three-dimensional (3D) character representations. A digital avatar may be a static representation of a character as a still image or a dynamic representation of a user in, e.g., a chat, telepresence, or entertainment application. Accurately modeling facial micro features provides a digital avatar with a more natural and organic appearance, rather than an overly smooth or plastic appearance.

Existing techniques for representing facial micro features may uniformly apply one or more generated noise patterns to an avatar's skin. The applied noise pattern modifies the uniform representation of skin texture to simulate micro features in the skin. These techniques are generally computationally simple and may be suitable for real-time modification of a digital avatar.

One drawback of noise-based texture modification is that the uniformly applied noise patterns do not include sufficient structure to accurately model or simulate micro features such as wrinkles. Wrinkles may include a structural directionality chara

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for simulating skin wrinkles, the computer-implemented method comprising: sampling, from a three-dimensional (3D) representation of a facial structure, a plurality of nodes, wherein each node of the plurality of nodes represents a pore in the facial structure; generating one or more edges connecting a node in the plurality of nodes to one or more different nodes selected from the plurality of nodes, wherein each edge of the one or more edges represents a candidate wrinkle in the facial structure; generating, based on the plurality of nodes and the one or more edges, a graph comprising the plurality of nodes and the one or more edges; calculating, for each edge of the one or more edges in the graph, an edge weight associated with the edge; and generating a wrinkle graph based on the plurality of nodes, the one or more edges, and one or more edge weights associated with the one or more edges. || 8. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of: sampling, from a three-dimensional (3D) representation of a facial structure, a plurality of nodes, wherein each node of the plurality of nodes represents a pore in the facial structure; generating one or more edges connecting a node in the plurality of nodes to one or more different nodes selected from the plurality of nodes, wherein each edge of the one or more edges represents a candidate wrinkle in the facial structure; generating, based on the plurality of nodes and the one or more edges, a graph comprising the plurality of nodes and the one or more edges; calculating, for each edge of the one or more edges in the graph, an edge weight associated with the edge; and generating a wrinkle graph based on the plurality of nodes, the one or more edges, and one or more edge weights associated with the one or more edges. || 16. A system comprising: one or more memories storing instructions; and one or more processors for executing the instructions to: sample, from a three-dimensional (3D) representation of a facial structure, a plurality of nodes, wherein each node of the plurality of nodes represents a pore in the facial structure; generate one or more edges connecting a node in the plurality of nodes to one or more different nodes selected from the plurality of nodes, wherein each edge of the one or more edges represents a candidate wrinkle in the facial structure; generate, based on the plurality of nodes and the one or more edges, a graph comprising the plurality of nodes and the one or more edges; calculate, for each edge of the one or more edges in the graph, an edge weight associated with the edge; and generate a wrinkle graph based on the plurality of nodes, the one or more edges, and a plurality of edge weights associated with the one or more edges.