Disney Research Hub debuts a practical new method for overlaying watertight digital costumes onto standard RGB images.
In a short video posted to the official Disney Research Hub YouTube channel earlier yesterday morning, Disney Research introduced AR Costumes, a new method of AR capture that automatically overlays a “watertight” digital costume onto a subject’s body from just a standard RGB image.
Using a combination of techniques referred to as “pose matching” and “inpainting,” Disney’s team is able to render the digital outfit over the subjects clothing with detailed precision.
In a publication provided by the company via disneyresearch.com, the team goes into further detail regarding the proper methodology for easily removing unwanted artifacts with little to no costume parameterization work via a relatively painless inpainting technique.
They go on to demonstrate the technology by outfitting several subjects in tight, futuristic space suits, allowing them to strike a variety of heroic poses without any revealing artifacts.
“To our knowledge, our approach is the first to deliver plausible watertight costumes from RGB imagery only, and is compatible with mobile devices,” the company states in the description of the video. “We believe this can serve as a useful baseline for future improvements and comparisons.”
Of course, like any budding technology, there are some limitations. While the program does do an excellent job of covering the subjects real-world clothing, a fair amount of warping does generate around the subject’s body as a result of the augmentation. It’s a relatively minimal effect, but a noticeable setback regardless.
According to the publication, Disney Research is working to improve their current method with more powerful pose and shape estimation. The hope is that one day the program will be able to augmented costumes with exaggerated proportions and even operate in real-time.
Those interested in learning more about this exciting new technique can check out Disney Research Hub’s official publication on the subject.
Image Credit: Disney Research Hub
