hair today

Hair is one of the most challenging things for computer animators to simulate realistically. Software that works out the 3-D structure of the strands making up a hairstyle from a collection of photos could give future computer-generated characters more realistic coiffures.

This image illustrates how a series of 30 photos of the hairstyle on the left was converted into a detailed 3-D model using new software created by Linjie Luo and Szymon Rusinkiewicz of Princeton University, with Hao Li of Industrial Light and Magic. First the software works out a likely collection of 3-D strands that could make up the hairstyle (center) and how they would move, then creates a detailed simulation (right) that moves realistically.