Dr Mark Sagar - University of Auckland and Soul Machines
If you've seen Avatar, King Kong or Spider-man 2, you've seen the work of Auckland-based computer scientist and now company founder and CEO, Dr Mark Sagar. The two-time Academy Award winner, a pioneer in the world of CGI, is now capturing world-wide attention with his emotionally intelligent avatars.
In 2011 Dr Sagar returned to the University of Auckland to head up the Laboratory for Animate Technologies based in the Auckland Bioengineering Institute (ABI). With his engineering and research team he developed two technologies: Facemaker designed to rapidly and reliably create avatar faces based on real human anatomy and physiology, and Baby X, his first avatar. Baby X technology provides an emotional and social reasoning platform to existing and developing intelligence in the Artificial Intelligence industry.
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