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Microsoft VASA-1 Creates Personal Video From A Photo

Microsoft VASA-1 "takes a single portrait photo and speech audio and produces a hyper-realistic talking face video with precise lip-audio sync, lifelike facial behavior, and naturalistic head movements generated in real-time."

As far as I know, the first reference in fiction to the idea of a computer-generated realistic human being in video occurred in The Moon is a harsh mistress by Robert Heinlein, published in 1966. The character was called Adam Selene:

"...what's to keep me from showing face, Man? I'm showing a voice this instant... I can show a face the same way."

Was so taken aback I didn't answer... I said, "No, Mike."

"Why not, Man?"

"Because you can't!. Voice you handle beautifully. Involves only a few thousand decisions a second, a slow crawl to you. But to build up a video picture would require, say, ten million decisions every second. Mike, you're so fast I can't even think about it. But you aren't that fast."

Mike said softly, "Want to bet, Man?"

...We waited in silence. Then screen showed neutral gray with a hint of scan lines. Went black again, then a faint light filled middle and congealed into cloudy areas light and dark, ellipsoid. Not a face, but suggestion of face that one sees in cloud patterns...

It cleared a little and reminded me of pictures alleged to be ectoplasm. A ghost of a face.

Suddenly firmed and we saw "Adam Selene."

Was a still picture of a mature man. No background, just a face as if trimmed out of a print...

Then he smiled, moving lips and jaw and touching tongue to lips, a quick gesture...

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