LOS ANGELES, Dec. 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Flawless, a neural net film lab specializing in ground-breaking visual AI technology for film and entertainment, today announced its research collaboration with Christian Theobalt at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics (MPI-INF) in Saarbruecken, Germany, one of the world’s leading research institutes on foundations of computer science. Theobalt will also support Flawless AI as Science Advisor.
Theobalt is the Director of the Visual Computing and AI Department at MPI-INF. As part of the collaboration, Flawless and MPI-INF will conduct fundamental research on open questions in AI-empowered graphics that arise in filmmaking. All results will be openly published.
A pioneer in his field, Theobalt has gained recognition for his work using camera data to reconstruct models of the real world, in particular models of people and their movement, as well as for his new approaches for neural rendering and neural scene representations. This has enabled new ways for computers and intelligent systems to visually perceive and understand the real world, as well as new ways to visually simulate real world scenes.
“Flawless is a unique film company in its embrace and implementation of cutting-edge AI science. It developed a groundbreaking new way for visual dubbing of movies. I’m excited to collaborate with such a passionate and talented team on researching open questions in AI and computer graphics,” said Christian Theobalt.
Since its establishment in 1948, no fewer than 22 Nobel laureates have emerged from the ranks of Max Planck Society’s scientists, putting it on a par with the best and most prestigious research institutions worldwide. Currently, 86 Max Planck Institutes conduct basic research in the service of the public in the natural sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and the humanities. Theobalt’s Visual Computing and Artificial Intelligence department operates unique state-of-the-art real world capture facilities for fundamental research.
The collaboration follows the company’s recent expansion to a sixty-person lab in the heart of London’s Soho district and a purpose-built Los Angeles-based lab where the team is currently hiring world leading researchers and engineers.
In addition to the appointment of Theobalt, Flawless names former Epic Games lead research scientist, Pablo Garrido, to Chief Researcher, where his experience in virtual human digitization, video editing and segmentation, neural rendering, and applied machine learning will prove invaluable. Garrido has had an impressive academic and professional career, working as a postdoctoral researcher at Technicolor in France, completing his Ph.D. from Saarland University and MPI for Informatics in Germany.
“I have long been a great admirer of Christian and the incredible, groundbreaking work he has pioneered with MPI-INF. His initial breakthroughs on capture and neural rendering of faces inspired the formation of Flawless and as a filmmaker, I believe that this exciting field of science is going to revolutionize the film industry and storytelling across the globe. It’s an honor to be working alongside Christian and Pablo in our shared passions to advance these technologies forward into the movie industry,” said Scott Mann, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Flawless.
For more information on Flawless or to learn about career opportunities, please visit https://www.flawlessai.com/careers.
About Flawless
Flawless is a London and LA based neural net film lab specializing in ground-breaking AI technology that seamlessly translates foreign-language films into the audience’s language, capturing actors’ emotions and translating the nuance of the actor’s performance. This is the first of many AI visual effects tools from Flawless, whose long-term objective is to facilitate many new ways of creating, consuming, and delivering content. Flawless was named to TIME’s 100 Best Inventions for 2021. For more information on Flawless, visit https://www.flawlessai.com.
About Max Planck Institute for Informatics
The Max Planck Institute for Informatics was founded in 1990 in Saarbrücken, Germany. At the time, it was the first institute of the Max Planck Society dedicated exclusively to computer science. It is located on Saarland Informatics Campus, one of Europe’s largest research sites in computer science. The Max Planck Institute for Informatics has six research departments. The development of algorithms for the analysis and description of computer science is at the center of the research, alongside the training of excellent young scientists.