Tim Flannery virtually impressed
by Heather McEwen
Late last year Torben Sko, the creator of a National Science Week Project Grant, ‘Who Could You Be?’ had the chance to show Professor Tim Flannery his virtual character!
The computer software is the result of months of work by Torben and fellow PhD candidates James Sheridan and Ben Swift to develop an educational tool for high school students.
Using computer software originally created by Seeing Machines (which is used to track facial expressions to detect driver fatigue) and researchers in the former Research School of Information Sciences and Engineering at ANU, Torben created software to build and use Tim Flannery’s facial features in a touch screen interactive display.
The Tim Flannery virtual character mimics the facial movements and expressions of the viewer enabling a virtual interaction to demonstrate how technology can provide solutions to some of the world’s environmental problems, a subject that is close Tim Flannery’s heart.
“By showing the role of technology in things like using satellite images on Google Earth to help prevent illegal logging of rainforests and using computers to precisely calculate and deliver irrigation in dry areas, we hope to stimulate youth already interested in computer games, avatars and the futuristic entertainment industry and encourage them to think about study and a career in computer science,” said Torben.
“The project will form part of a permanent IT display at the Research School of Computer Science at ANU,” said Dr Henry Gardner, Director of the Research School.
“We are also interested in developing the project further to take it directly into high schools in the ACT and region, and possibly as a digital download,” he said.
“Tim was impressed with the way the project turned out,” said Dr Gardner.
“I am pleased that we were able to work collaboratively with Tim to show how the environment and society benefits from the way in which we use technology to predict, analyse, monitor, and perhaps change the way in which we consume the Earth’s finite resources,” he said.
View a film of the software in action.
The initiative was supported by the Australian Government as part of National Science Week (2011) and Seeing Machines donated the licence for the software to support the project.
Photo: Professor Tim Flannery, Torben Sko and Associate Professor Henry Gardner.
Photo credit: Stuart Hay.
