Researchers

Visual Computing

We strive to improve Disney’s production pipelines and creative processes, expanding the designer’s toolbox in terms of rendering, animation, capture, stylization, interaction, and efficiency. Our technology allows designers to tell their story. We also develop algorithms to better understand our audiences and create new modes of interaction.

Notable Projects

Lightweight Eye Capture Using a Parametric Model

Real-Time High-Fidelity Facial Performance Capture

Progressive Virtual Beam Lights

 

Principal Researchers

Tunç Aydın

Thabo Beeler

Derek Bradley

Kenny Mitchell

Bob Sumner

Robotics

We aim to endow our robotic characters with life-like features, from appropriate gaits and movements to the ability to physically interact with humans. We also investigate functional robots and sensing for tasks like automated maintenance. Our platforms range from legged and wheeled robots to acrobots.

Notable Projects

VertiGo – A Wall-Climbing Robot including Ground-Wall Transition

Snapbot: a Reconfigurable Legged Robot


Stickman: Towards a Human Scale Acrobatic Robot

 

Principal Researchers

Moritz Bächer

Joohyung Kim

Günter Niemeyer

Morgan Pope

Machine Learning

We work on algorithms for finding hidden structure in large data sets, using a combination of probabilistic modeling and deep learning, ranging from social media understanding, text mining, and consumer analytics to visual computing and content generation.

Notable Projects

Kernel-predicting Convolutional Networks for Denoising Monte Carlo Renderings

Data-Driven Ghosting using Deep Imitation Learning

A Deep Learning Approach for Generalized Speech Animation

 

Principal Researchers

Romann Weber

Artificial Intelligence

We are working to endow computers and robots with many of the qualities long associated with living, thinking beings—from perception and action to reasoning, problem solving, and even creativity! Here we are going beyond simply building the next generation of smart tools and are instead finding new ways to bring our treasured characters to life.

 

Principal Researchers

James Kennedy

Cengiz Öztireli

Christoper Schroers

Romann Weber