August 12, 2008
2 Universities Join Disney in Computer-Animation Research
Carnegie Mellon University and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich might be the creators of Disney’s next animated character. The Walt Disney Company will establish collaborative labs with the two universities, the corporation announced yesterday at a computer graphics conference in Los Angeles.
The collaborative labs, in Pittsburgh and Zurich, will do research on computer animation, computational cinematography, autonomous interactive characters, robotics, data mining, and user interfaces, among other topics, according to a news release. Disney will provide funds for five years to pay the directors of the two labs, and money for seven years for eight principal investigators.
One of the Carnegie Mellon lab’s first projects will be finding ways for people to interact with virtual or robotic characters. The Swiss researchers will look at issues such as computer animation, image synthesis, and artificial intelligence. Disney may use the results for any of its divisions, including Parks and Resorts, Disney Media Networks, ESPN, Walt Disney Feature Animation, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Disney Interactive Media Group, and Pixar Animation Studios. —Maria José Viñas
Posted on Tuesday August 12, 2008 | Permalink |Comments
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I hear that some of the students will also be able to fix hair-plugged shower drains without using a plumber’s snake — just magic. In addition, they’ll have other vocational skills, so these kids have great hourly wages and platinum union cards in their futures. Thank God the liberal arts and basic sciences no longer stand in the way of academic progress!
— June Dania Quayle Aug 13, 04:26 AM #
I won’t be surprised to learn if this was something Randy Pausch was working on before he died.
— Mike Aug 13, 09:48 AM #
Mike—I thought the same thing. I fully expect a Randy Pausch character in the next Pixar movie, don’t you?
— Martha Aug 13, 11:42 AM #
June, clearly you have no understanding of the math and science required in a computer science curriculum. Last time I checked, artificial intelligence research didn’t use magic— just incredibly intelligent and well-educated people. Oh, and a lot of technology developed by equally smart and educated people.
— J. Aug 13, 02:17 PM #
It would be a great tribute to Randy Pausch if a character is made for him in a Pixar movie. Can’t you see it now – this professor who teaches robots to live for their dreams? Wonderful and playful movie!
— Denise Aug 14, 03:19 PM #
Why wait for the next Pixar movie. Randy has a cameo in the upcoming Star Trek movie. I think he even got a speaking part.
— Charles Aug 15, 12:49 PM #