MIRALab at the University of Geneva

MIRALab is a creative lab which benefits from an interdisciplinary team working in a very collaborative way.

• When: The MIRALab research group at the University of Geneva was founded in 1989 by Nadia Magnenat-Thalmann.
• Why: MIRALab was created to assemble researchers from several disciplines and to forge links between them in a broad effort to understand human functionality and to simulate it in a realistic way.
• How: Mixing computer science and electrical engineering, physics and mathematics, virtual environment systems and multimedia, architecture and design, anthropometric body modelling and psychology...
• Who: Our lab is made up of around 30 researchers working in all fields of virtual humans simulation and virtual worlds.

MIRALab within AIM@SHAPE

MIRALab is involved in three topics in the Joint Program of Activities. Firstly, MIRALab is contributing to the research in the Virtual Human field by adapting current research on human body modelling and simulation to the semantic approach as proposed by the AIM@SHAPE. Secondly, MIRALab is supporting the NoE with its experience and involvement in standardization and particularly with its participation and contribution to MPEG-4 and MPEG-21. Finally, MIRALab is aiming at – in cooperation with the network Partners – demonstrating and disseminating the ongoing research in shape to the research community and the general population.

In particular, MIRALab is responsible of task 5.5 (Human Shape Representation) in activity 5 (Acquisition and Representation), task 8.5 (Contribution to Standards) in activity 8 (Openness), and involved in many other activities (Shape Reconstruction from Images - 5.3, Semantic of Virtual Humans - 7.4).