TEXTURE MAPPING APPROACH TO 3-D FACIAL IMAGE SYNTHESIS.

A method of synthesising and animating a realistic image of a person's face by means of computer graphics is described. The key feature contributing to realism in image synthesis lies in the use of texture mapping in the rendering of surface detail on the face. Full facial animation is made possible by manipulating a 3-D model of the face in conjunction with a relatively small data set of pre-stored sub-images.