James F. O'Brien

For other people with the same name, see James O'Brien (disambiguation).

James F. O'Brien is a computer graphics researcher and professor of computer science and electrical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also co-founder and chief science officer at Avametric, a company developing software for virtual clothing try on.^[1] In 2015, he received an award for Scientific and Technical Achievement from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

James F. O'Brien
Born	United States
Alma mater	Georgia Tech College of Computing (PhD) Florida International University (BSc)
Awards	Academy Award, SIGGRAPH Impact Award, Sloan Fellowship, FIU Torch Award, GVU 15 Impact Award, TR100
Scientific career
Fields	Computer graphics
Institutions	University of California, Berkeley
Doctoral advisor	Jessica Hodgins

Education

O'Brien received a Bachelor of Science in 1992 from Florida International University. He then did his graduate work under the supervision of Dr. Jessica Hodgins at Georgia Tech's GVU Center. He received his doctorate in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology College of Computing in 2000 for a thesis entitled Graphical Modeling and Animation of Fracture.^[2]

Research and professional activities

O'Brien has published an extensive collection of research papers on topics such as surface reconstruction, human figure animation, mesh generation, physically based animation, surgical simulation, computational fluid dynamics, and fracture propagation.^[3]

O'Brien served as a consultant on the development of the game physics engine Digital Molecular Matter (DMM).^[4] To date, this game engine has been used in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and an off-line version of it was used for special effects in the film Avatar, Sucker Punch, Source Code, X-Men: First Class, and more than 60 other feature films.

In 2015, his work on developing DMM was recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with a Technical Achievement award.^[5] The citation reads:

"To Ben Cole for the design of the Kali Destruction System, to Eric Parker for the development of the Digital Molecular Matter toolkit, and to James O’Brien for his influential research on the finite element methods that served as a foundation for these tools. The combined innovations in Kali and DMM provide artists with an intuitive, art-directable system for the creation of scalable and realistic fracture and deformation simulations. These tools established finite element methods as a new reference point for believable on-screen destruction."

UC Berkeley

He joined UC Berkeley's Computer Science department as a faculty member in 2000. Prof. O'Brien runs the Berkeley Computer Animation and Modeling Group and his research focuses primarily on physically based animation, 3D modeling, and audio simulation.^[6]

Photo forensics and fake media detection

Prof O'Brien is a noted expert on detection and analysis of fake images and video. He has frequently worked with news organizations on exposing fake or altered photographs,^{[7][8][9][10]} as well as images created by generative artificial intelligence software.^[11][12] His methods have been used to expose fabrication of medical research records ^[13] prosecute child pornographers, validate evidentiary videos,^[14][15] and rule out conspiracy theories relating to photographs of the Moon landing.^[16][17] In response to their work debunking assertions that the shadows in photos of the 1969 Moon Landing^[18][19][20] and of Lee Harvey Oswald, coauthor Hany Farid has been accused by conspiracy theorists of being a time-traveling CIA operative.^[21]

In addition to developing methods for detecting fake images and video,^[22][23][24] O'Brien's has studied the impact of fake media on viewers and investigated what factors contribute to a viewer's acceptance or skepticism regarding the media they consume.^[25][26][27] Prof. O'Brien has stated that due to rapid progress in machine learning "it will be impossible to tell the difference between a generated image and a real one" and that detection software will be in an arms race that will eventually be lost to generative AI. He advocates for changing societal attitudes regarding trusting media and that viewers should suspect everything as potentially fake.^[28][29]

Awards

• SIGGRAPH Impact Award (1999)
• Technology Review TR100 (2004)^[30]
• Sloan Fellowship (2004)^[31]
• College of Engineering Distinguished Alumni, Florida International University (2006)^[32]
• GVU 15 Impact Award^[33]
• Jim and Donna Gray Endowment Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2008)^[34]
• The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Award for Scientific and Technical Achievement ( A Sci-Tech Oscar, 2015 )^[35]
• Dreamworks Animation award for Technical Achievement for work in the field of Machine Learning related to Character Rigging (2020)^[36]

References

1. "Avametric, Fashion Software Startup, Announces 10.5 Million in Funding Led by Khosla Ventures". 2016-03-10.
2. J. F. O'Brien, Graphical Modeling and Animation of Brittle Fracture. PhD thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, Aug. 2000.
3. "James F. O'Brien Publications". Retrieved 2008-09-12.
4. . The Daily Californian. Archived from the original on 2008-09-15. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
5. King, Miranda (2015), Thanking the Academy, UC Berkeley, retrieved February 10, 2015
6. Taylor, Chris (2005-01-02). . Time Magazine. Archived from the original on February 7, 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
7. Kochi, Sudiksha. "Fact check: Baseless 'false flag' conspiracy theory on Nashville shooting circulates online". USA TODAY.
8. McCrary, Eleanor. "Fact check: Viral images of a beached great white shark are fake". USA TODAY.
9. Kochi, Sudiksha. "Fact check: Photos showing Trump arrested by law enforcement are computer-generated". USA TODAY.
10. Mueller, Chris. "Fact check: Experts say images showing Putin's arrest are fake". USA TODAY.
11. "Images of satanic-themed apparel at Target made with AI | Fact check". USA TODAY. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
12. Brodkin, Jon (8 June 2023). "DeSantis ad uses fake AI images of Trump hugging and kissing Fauci, experts say". Ars Technica. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
13. James Glanz; Agustin Armendariz (March 8, 2017). "Years of Ethics Charges, but Star Cancer Researcher Gets a Pass". New York Times. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
14. Steve Ranson (Dec 11, 2012). "NTSB's findings on June 2011 Amtrak crash center on driver, truck's brakes". Tahoe Daily Tribune. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
15. Scott Sonner. "NTSB: Bad brakes, driver at fault in Reno Amtrak crash". Las Vegas Sun. Associated Press. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
16. Thomas Walden Levy (May 1, 2014). "Moonshadow". Berkeley Engineering. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
17. Kee, Eric; O'Brien, James F.; Farid, Hany (June 2013). "Exposing photo manipulation with inconsistent shadows". ACM Transactions on Graphics. 32 (3). ACM SIGGRAPH: 1–12. doi:10.1145/2487228.2487236. S2CID 11387432. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
18. Quenqua, Douglas (19 August 2013). "Software That Exposes Faked Photos". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
19. Larry Greenemeier (August 20, 2013). "Fancy Figuring Ferrets Out Fake Photos". Scientific American. Springer Nature. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
20. "Shadows and light: New software to detect forged photos". Science Daily. August 11, 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
21. Farid, Hany. "A Lesson Learned!" (PDF). John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
22. Kee, Eric; O'Brien, James F.; Farid, Hany (23 September 2014). "Exposing Photo Manipulation from Shading and Shadows". ACM Transactions on Graphics. 33 (5): 165:1–165:21. doi:10.1145/2629646. ISSN 0730-0301. S2CID 14201094.
23. Conotter, Valentina; O'Brien, James F.; Farid, Hany (February 2012). "Exposing Digital Forgeries in Ballistic Motion". IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security. 7 (1): 283–296. doi:10.1109/TIFS.2011.2165843. S2CID 8893280.
24. O'Brien, James F.; Farid, Hany (January 2012). "Exposing photo manipulation with inconsistent reflections". ACM Transactions on Graphics. 31 (1): 1–11. doi:10.1145/2077341.2077345. S2CID 207192001.
25. Dan Brubaker (Apr 1, 2021). "Fake Photos: Can You Spot Them?". Studies Show. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
26. Kasra, Mona (24 June 2019). "Identifying a fake picture online is harder than you might think". The Conversation. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
27. Shen, Cuihua; Kasra, Mona; O’Brien, James F. (25 May 2021). "Research note: This photograph has been altered: Testing the effectiveness of image forensic labeling on news image credibility". Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review. arXiv:2101.07951. doi:10.37016/mr-2020-72. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
28. Mueller, Chris (April 11, 2023). "AI-generated images already fool people. Why experts say they'll only get harder to detect". USA TODAY. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
29. Ellis, Emma Grey (June 17, 2020). "How to Spot Phony Images and Online Propaganda". Wired. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
30. "2004 TR100: Computing". Technology Review. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
31. . Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Archived from the original on 2007-10-23. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
32. . Florida International University. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
33. . Archived from the original on 2007-12-25. Retrieved 2007-11-01.
34. "EECS Faculty Awards". Retrieved 2008-03-03.
35. "21 SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENTS TO BE HONORED WITH ACADEMY AWARDS".
36. "Awards and Honors". Retrieved 2023-12-12.

External links

• Home page at U. C. Berkeley
• Computer Graphics Group at U. C. Berkeley
• Berkeley Computer Animation and Modeling Group
• Author profile in ACM Digital Library