Frederic Ira Parke is an American
computer graphics
Computer graphics deals with generating images with the aid of computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. A great de ...
researcher and academic. He did early work on animated computer renderings of human faces.
Parke graduated from the
University of Utah
The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
with a BS degree in physics in 1965. He was then a graduate student of the
University of Utah College of Engineering
The College of Engineering at the University of Utah is an academic college of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. The college offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering and computer science.
History
The College of Engi ...
where he received his MS (1972) and PhD (1974) in
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...
.
In 1972, in a project partially financed by
DARPA
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military.
Originally known as the Adv ...
, Parke made the first
3D animation
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anima ...
of a
representation
Representation may refer to:
Law and politics
*Representation (politics), political activities undertaken by elected representatives, as well as other theories
** Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a ...
of a human face, his wife's face. This animation used a wireframe geometry overlaid with
Gouraud shading that produces approximate renderings of
curved surfaces. The technique was invented by Parke's Utah colleague
Henri Gouraud.
[
]
A Computer Animated Face
In 1974, he created a more complex, parametric model of a human face, demonstrating various expressions and speech synchronization. Snippets of this animation, along with
Ed Catmull's
1972 animation of his left hand, were used in the 1976 film ''
Futureworld''. Several of the faces also appeared in the music video of
Miley Cyrus
Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip hop ...
' 2013 song "
We Can't Stop".
He has worked at the
New York Institute of Technology
The New York Institute of Technology (NYIT or New York Tech) is a private research university founded in 1955. It has two main campuses in New York—one in Old Westbury, on Long Island, and one in Manhattan. Additionally, it has a cybersecu ...
Computer Graphics Laboratory.
Parke teaches at
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
in the Visualization Sciences program.
References
External links
Homepageof Frederic I. Parke at Texas A&M University
1943 births
Living people
Computer graphics professionals
Texas A&M University faculty
University of Utah alumni
New York Institute of Technology faculty
Scientists from Salt Lake City
{{US-academic-stub