Could models be replaced by avatars?
Move over Kate and Gisele, Ava the Avatar is crashing the catwalk.
Supermodels strutting their stuff down the catwalk could become a thing of the past, with life-like computer avatars taking their place.
Scientists have created near-faultless copies of people that can then be digitally dressed in the latest haute couture and their movements recorded, ready to instantly appear in Milan or Paris.
The team from Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) combined data collected from 3D body scanners, traditionally used for inch-perfect measurements in the fashion industry, with motion-capture technology regularly used in Hollywood blockbusters.
Computer-to-catwalk technology is already employed by major fashion brands, projecting holograms of famous models onto the runway. But the digital copies - a world first - could replace the striding supermodels altogether.
Data from both systems is married to create a realistic avatar and turned into moving models that never tire or get hungry. Avatars can also be clad in virtual clothes to be adjusted and manipulated, mimicking real-life design studios.
Dr Andrew Brownbridge published the findings on how to create the hybrid avatars with Dr Peter Twigg, both from MMU.
Dr Brownbridge said: “Motion capture for fashion shows has been attempted, but the results were very blocky avatars with unnatural movements. These are very realistic avatars.
“You could do several things: render a fashion show to video file 
with animated characters ready to distribute or you could have a live performance with models in motion capture outfits, working in real time.
“And models could go down a catwalk like normal but augment their performance with their design avatar in the virtual world at the same time. The avatar could be manipulated into a range of different digital worlds.”
The researchers, from MMU’s Faculty of Science and Engineering, worked with colleagues from the University’s International Fashion Business and Technology Centre which operates the body scanner.
Infrared depth-sensing technology scans a body to create an image in minutes. The team then used an inertial motion capture suit and its 18 sensors to plot joint movements in real-time. The information from the motion capture is translated into a digital ‘skeleton’ and meshed with the 3D avatar.
The avatars were initially used to minutely analyse ballerinas’ dance routines.
The research was published in the International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education.
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