We have seen it to the point of boredom: a video game can highlight many aspects of a character's appearance, but skin manifests as one of its weakest points. The problem is that skin is not a simple cover, but rather has a complex system of deformation and compression based on microstructures, which is not reproduced. At the Institute for Creative Technologies of the University of Southern California, they decided to change that detail, and the results are astonishing.
The same old problem
If you take games like Skyrim, Fallout or Dragon Age, you will most likely spend a long time customizing your digital avatar. In fact, a good part of the modder community usually focuses on aesthetic optimizations of characters, developing entire packs of textures, hairstyles, armor, and of course, nude patches. Unfortunately, the skin detail retains its position as one of the most deficient. Too pale, too smooth, little variation, limited tones, rigid expressions... the list goes on. Many players highlighted the advances in graphical quality seen in The Witcher 3, but skin still has plenty of room for improvement. The processing power exists, courtesy of the latest graphics cards, so the first step is to get more data.
Capturing the microstructures
That is exactly what they have done at the Institute for Creative Technologies of the University of Southern California. In the video called «Deformación de Microestructuras en la Piel con Circunvolución de Mapa de Desplazamiento», those responsible explain some of the properties of skin when subjected to a process of deformation and compression (brighter or rougher and more opaque), and mention that the dynamics of microstructures below a tenth of a millimeter are not recorded in simulations, despite their impact. To obtain that record, they used an LED sphere, a good dose of macro photography, and a device to stretch or compress the skin at specific intervals. Each skin scan lasted less than 0.5 seconds with a resolution of ten microns, and then a displacement map was applied for each deformation phase. They were also able to apply the technique with different orientations of the skin, thereby increasing the level of detail.
In simpler terms, the difference between skin without this microstructure and the USC optimization is impressive. As if that were not enough, the process not only works with 'digital skin', but can be applied to the recording of a face, if necessary. Comparisons with real photos finally confirm the extraordinary work of the experts, and all that is left is to ask when we will see this in video games or animated films.
