Archive notice: This article was originally published on December 17, 2014. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The team around Pascal Bérard, Derek Bardley, Maurizio Nitti, Thabo Beeler, and Markus Gross published their Siggraph paper "High-Quality Capture of Eyes" last week. They experimented with multiple cameras and different lighting arrangements to capture the subtleties of the eye.
Because, even though it happens imperceptibly, the eyes react to every change in light, causing colour and veins to change. The new capture system is able to reproduce these changes accurately. This includes the outer eye skin, the cornea, and the iris. Eyes were recorded with six cameras equipped with 100 mm macro lenses – focused on the iris. The subjects lying on the floor were then exposed to different lighting situations – from flash light to coloured LED lighting. The focus of the research was how the iris responds to light. The team is currently working on the reactions of the eye skin and cornea.
The technology could be used in film and games, especially, of course, for main characters or other major roles. Technology from Disney Research was most recently used on Disney’s "Maleficent". The three little flower fairies were recorded with Disney Research technology.
The research work is presented in this video:
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