LIVE OR MEMOREX?
There's a bit of a media kerfuffle over a re-touched photo of CBS's new $15 million a year, evening news anchor Katie Couric.
As Buzzle.com explains in it's headline:
"Katie Couric Magically Loses Weight in Photo Distributed to Media
Thanks to digital manipulation, CBS’s new anchorwoman Katie Couric dropped at least 20 pounds and became younger-looking overnight in a photograph distributed to media outlets, without acknowledgment of the retouching."
The story goes on to give CBS's reaction:
"Gil Schwartz, executive vice president of communications for CBS Corp., told reporters that the digital alteration of the photograph was done by someone in the CBS photo department who "got a little zealous."
Looking at the before and after photos, two questions come to mind:
1. How long before technology can make it possible for "virtually made-over" celebrities can be portrayed
on broadcasts. Not virtual "Max Headroom"* type of avatars mind you, but real anchors, actors etc., that provide the voice and real-time motion, but the image on the screen is a virtually made-over representation.
Think about it as a "Video-Over" instead of a "Voice-Over" performance.
2. Then how long before Google, Yahoo! or Microsoft then make it available as a free, ad-supported, online service where mainstream users can do them same for their own videos?
It may sound like science fiction now, but may not be in the "near future".
* New companies like Oddcast.com already provide services to publishers and consumers to generate virtual avatars today. See Fred Wilson's blog for a good example of this on the upper right side bar.
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