Nadia Magnenat Thalmann


Professor Nadia Magnenat Thalmann is an eminent computer graphics scientist and robotician and is the founder and head of MIRALab at the University of Geneva. She presently chairs the Institute for Media Innovation at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Biography

Nadia Magnenat Thalmann received an MS in Psychology, an MS in Biology and a Master in Biochemistry at the University of Geneva. She obtained a PhD in Quantum Physics in 1977 from the same university. She started her career as an Assistant Professor at the University Laval in Canada, then became a Professor at HEC, University of Montreal until 1988. In 1989, she moved to the University of Geneva where she founded the MIRALab laboratory.
She is currently Director of the Institute for Media Innovation at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Thalmann has authored and co-authored more than 600 papers in the area of Virtual Humans, social robots, VR, and 3D simulation of human articulations. She has participated in more than 45 European research projects and led quite a few of them. She has served the Computer Graphics community by creating the Computer Animation and Social Agents in Geneva in 1988, as well as managing Computer Graphics International, both of which are internationally well known conferences. She is the editor-in-chief of the journal The Visual Computer published by Springer, Germany and co editor-in-chief of the Computer Animation Journal published by Wiley.

Research

Nadia Magnenat Thalmann has made numerous research contributions in the general area of computer graphics and is best known for her work on simulating realistic virtual humans. She also made early contributions in computer graphics during her PhD by simulating and visualizing 3D electronic densities of the Schrödinger equation's approximate solutions. Later on, she pioneered the modelling of realistic Virtual Humans, particularly producing the first simulation of a 3D version of Marilyn Monroe in the film Rendez-vous in Montreal This film was shown in world premiere at the Place des Arts in Montreal to celebrate 100 years of engineering in Canada. She also showed her film at the Modern Art Museum in New York in 1988 along with Canadian computer artists.
She published several landmark papers on facial and body deformation methods and cloth simulation. She made several original contributions in MRI segmentation methods correlated with clinical findings. She also modelled the simulation of Virtual Ballerinas where their hip cartilage deformations can be visualized while dancing. She further demonstrates see-through knee articulations of real soccer players. Since 2008, she has started at MIRALab, University of Geneva, a research with the humanoid robot EVA and demonstrated a first model of a realistic robot showing emotions and having a memory model. More recently, she has worked on the social autonomous robot Nadine, modeled in her image, that is able to speak, recognize people and gestures, express mood and emotions, and remember actions. Nadine has been shown at the ArtScience Museum, in the exhibition HUMAN+: The Future of our Species, in Singapore, which has attracted more than 100 000 visitors.

Honors and awards

Thalmann has received more than 30 honors and awards such as "Woman of the Year", for early original contribution in computer graphics in Montreal. More recently, she was awarded a Doctor Honoris Causa in Natural sciences from Leibniz University Hannover, an Honorary Doctorate of the University of Ottawa and a Career Achievement Award from the Canadian Human Computer Communications Society in Toronto. The same year she received the prestigious Humboldt Research Award in Germany, given to academics whose fundamental discoveries, new theories, or insights have had a significant impact on their own discipline and who are expected to continue producing cutting-edge achievements in the future. She has also produced several award-winning films, among them "Virtual Marilyn" at the Golden Camera Ceremony in Berlin. She was also selected as a Pioneer in Information Technology at the Heinz Nixdorf Computer Museum's Electronic Wall of Fame in Germany. Her film "High Fashion in Equations" has won the CGI 2007 Best International Scientific Video award and was shown in the SIGGRAPH Electronic Theatre in the same year. Nadine, her Social Robot, has received more than 1.2 million video views online, and over 200 publications in international media.

Filmography

The following filmography contains a hundred of films demonstrating the interdisciplinary research of Nadia Magnenat Thalmann and her team in Virtual Humans, Social Robots, Cultural Heritage, 3D Fashion shows, 3D medical patients, and early Mixed Reality.
YearTitleDescription
19823D Computer-generated film, produced with the MIRA Animation system, 13 min., 16mm color, directed by Philippe Bergeron, Nadia Magnenat Thalmann and Daniel Thalmann.
1985Nirvana3D Computer-generated film, produced with the MIRANIM system, 4 min., 16mm color, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann and Daniel Thalmann.
19873D Computer-generated film, produced with the HUMAN FACTORY system, 3 min., 35mm color, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann and Daniel Thalmann.
19873D Computer-generated film, produced with the HUMAN FACTORY system, 6 min., 35mm color, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann and Daniel Thalmann.
1987Documentary on the making of the 3D Computer-generated film Rendez Vous à Montreal, 14 min 48sec, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann and Daniel Thalmann.
19883D Computer-generated film, produced with the HUMAN FACTORY system, 6 min., 35mm color, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann and Daniel Thalmann.
19883D Computer-generated film, produced with the HUMAN FACTORY system, 2 min., 35mm color, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann and Daniel Thalmann.
19903D Computer-generated film, in ray tracing, with hand animation, 3 min., 1 inch video, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann and Daniel Thalmann.
19903D Computer-generated film, in ray tracing, with cloth animation, 50 sec., 1 inch video, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann and Daniel Thalmann.
19913D Computer-generated film, in ray tracing, with walking model, 1 min., 1 inch video, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann and Daniel Thalmann.
19923D Computer-generated film, in ray tracing, with cloth animation, 1 min., 1 inch video, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
19933D Computer Animation film festival, opening sequence, 1 inch video, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
1994Broken dreams3D Computer-generated film, inspired from the painting made by Hopper, 1 min, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
1995Real-time performance between Singapore and Geneva at Telecom`95, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann and Daniel Thalmann.
1995First film to mix virtual people with real ones on a real setting, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
19962 min, 1 inch video, Berlin, Germany. Program retransmitted on ZDF, Germany, and Marilyn sequence, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
19973D simulation of the Xian Terracotta soldiers, 1 min 27 sec, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
1997Interactive Telecom 97, real time demo between Lausanne and Geneva, 2 min, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann and Daniel Thalmann.
1997Mixed Reality film, 41 sec, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
1997Mixed reality show presented at Kursaal, Bern, Switzerland, at the official ceremony of the new members of the Swiss Technical Sciences Academy, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
19983D Fashion Show, 1 min., directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
19983 min 33 sec., Mixed-reality live show, Invited presentation at the "Forum de l'hôtellerie Suisse", in Montreux, Switzerland directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
1998Exhibition of the Marilyn's recreation in 3D in the University of Geneva. This was an interactive project among the Professors from the Research Center. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
1999Presentation of “Virtual Self”, Mixed-reality live show, at Kulturhalle Dampfzentrale, Bern, Switzerland, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
19993 min 22 sec., Mixed-reality performance, “Hannover Region Stand” in Cebit, Hannover, Germany, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2000EU exhibition and conference, real-time performance between Nice, France, and Geneva, Switzerland, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann and Daniel Thalmann.
2000Simulation of the Segius and Bacchus mosque in Istanbul. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
20012 min 40 sec., Virtual Reality live show, Casino Hilton Geneva, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
20013D modelling of Hagia Sophia Mosque in Istanbul. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2001Principal components of facial animation for showing emotional speech, with different type of expressions: sad, happy and surprised. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
20013D Recreation of hair movements with a fluid flow. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2001Last results of the studying of movements, materials and textures on a dress: different essays and perspectives. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
20022 min 37sec, presented at the Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva, Switzerland, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2002A video show casing the best productions of MIRALab including some interviews and explanations of our work, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2003MIRALab's projects. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
20037 min., 3D fashion simulation in mixed reality, Musée d’art et d’histoire, Geneva, Switzerland, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2003A Virtual rehearsal of a dancer, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2004Innovative revival of life in ancient frescos and creation of immersive narrative spaces featuring real scenes with behavioural virtual fauna and flora. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann and Daniel Thalmann.
20049 min. 26 sec,live Virtual Fashion show at Athénée 13, Geneva, Switzerland, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2004Demonstration of Facial Animation for Pocket computer. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2004Creation of a virtual restoration and revival of cultural heritage: The Aspendos theatre. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2004Modee Spring-Summer Collection 2005 from MIRALab: animation video with recreation of a runway. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
20054 min 22 sec, Exhibition at the Musée de la Mode, Yverdon, Switzerland, and presented at SIGGRAPH electronic theatre 2007. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
20053D reconstruction of bones and muscles is a priority in order to help the medical research. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2006Xian virtual animation about life and human interaction in ancient times. A MIRALab project in the modeling of cultural heritage in 3D. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2006Recreation of a dancer's movements: hair simulation, cloths design and virtual reality. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
20073D simulation of the interior of Hagia Sophia Mosque in Istanbul. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2007Video showing the Visuo-haptic VR System for interacting with virtual textiles and samples of cloth simulation. Haptic sensing of virtual textiles is a European Research project in which MIRALab participates. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2008Modelling the human hip joint in extreme postures. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2008From motion capture to facial animation. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2008Simulation of a textile applied with a waterfall effect. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
20093D simulation of John Calvin and exhibition at the International Museum of the Reform in Geneva, Switzerland. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2009Eurographics Medical 1st Prize, 2009, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2009Live show performed in Geneva for the 450th anniversary of the university. The professional ballet dancer dances with her 3D avatar, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2010Investigating the link between extreme movements and hip, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2010Demonstration on the dynamic reconfigurable wearable interfaces for personal health data analysis, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2011New Media Village @ IMI, Singapore directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2011Presentation of Eva Robot, a humanoid robot head with software platform developed at MIRALab, Switzerland, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2012AAAI Video Competition 2012, Best Student Video Award. Produced by Karolina Zawieska, Bart Kevelham, Maher Ben Moussa and Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
20125th ACM SIGGRAPH Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques in Asia, Singapore. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2012Swissnex Singapore End of 2012 Party, Singapore, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2013Swissnex Singapore End of 2013 Party, Singapore, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2013Demonstration on a single user 3D application into a multi-user distributed service, a software platform developed at MIRALab, University Of Geneva, Switzerland, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann, Yvain Tisserand and Niels Nijdam.
2014Demonstration on Virtual Human, a software platform developed at IMI, NTU, Singapore, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2014Demonstration on sound localization by Virtual Human, a software platform developed at IMI, NTU, Singapore, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2014Demonstration of affective memory and dialogue, on Nadine Social Robot, a software platform developed at IMI, NTU, Singapore, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2015MultiScale Human project, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2015MultiScale Human project, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2016Demonstration performed with Nadine Social Robot, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2016Nadia Magnenat Thalmann interacting with Nadine Social Robot by reading a journal together, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2016Nadine Social Robot demonstrates her capabilities, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2016Recognition of human gestures by Nadine Social Robot, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2016Interaction with Nadine Social Robot, directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2016Interaction on stage with Nadine Social Robot during the 2016 ACI Asia Business Summit, Raffles City Convention Centre, Singapore. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2016Video demonstration on a reusable low-cost platform for digitizing and preserving traditional participative sports. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2017Robot Eva has also performed in a play in the Roten Fabrik Theatre at Zurich., produced by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2017A short trailer of Nadine Social Robot at IMI, NTU, Singapore. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2017A video showing the process in the making of Nadine’s hand. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2017Nadine Social Robot, at the ArtScience Museum, Singapore. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2017A demonstration on Nadine Social Robot having a conversation with a student. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2018Nadine Social Robot starting work as a receptionist in AIA Insurance Company in Singapore. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.
2018Opening Ceremony at AIA Finlayson Green. Directed by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann.