James F. O'Brien

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.J. F. O'Brien, [http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/~job/Papers/obrien-phdthesis.pdf Graphical Modeling and Animation of Brittle Fracture]. PhD thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, Aug. 2000.

O'Brien has published research papers on topics such as surface reconstruction, human figure animation, mesh generation, physically based animation, surgical simulation, computational fluid dynamics, and fracture propagation.{{cite web|url=http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/~job/Papers/|title=James F. O'Brien Publications|access-date=2008-09-12}}

O'Brien served as a consultant on the development of the game physics engine Digital Molecular Matter (DMM).{{cite news|url=http://www.dailycal.org/article/102165/professor_helps_bring_reality_to_video_games|title=Professor Helps Bring Reality to Video Games|work=The Daily Californian|access-date=2008-09-12|archive-date=2008-09-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915041803/http://www.dailycal.org/article/102165/professor_helps_bring_reality_to_video_games|url-status=dead}} 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.{{Citation |last=King |first=Miranda |year=2015 |title=Thanking the Academy |publisher=UC Berkeley |url=http://engineering.berkeley.edu/2015/02/thanking-academy |access-date=February 10, 2015}} 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."

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.{{cite news|first=Chris|last=Taylor|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1013226,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070207151811/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1013226,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 7, 2007|title=What Does Wind Really Look Like?|work=Time Magazine|date=2005-01-02|access-date=2007-10-10}}

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,{{cite news |last1=Kochi |first1=Sudiksha |title=Fact check: Baseless 'false flag' conspiracy theory on Nashville shooting circulates online |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2023/03/30/fact-check-false-claim-nashville-shooters-shoes-prove-false-flag/11564215002/ |work=USA TODAY}}{{cite news |last1=McCrary |first1=Eleanor |title=Fact check: Viral images of a beached great white shark are fake |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2023/03/31/fact-check-viral-images-beached-great-white-shark-fake/11563909002/ |work=USA TODAY}}{{cite news |last1=Kochi |first1=Sudiksha |title=Fact check: Photos showing Trump arrested by law enforcement are computer-generated |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2023/03/22/fact-check-photos-trump-arrest-created-artificial-intelligence-ai/11520957002/ |work=USA TODAY}}{{cite news |last1=Mueller |first1=Chris |title=Fact check: Experts say images showing Putin's arrest are fake |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2023/03/29/fact-check-experts-say-images-showing-putins-arrest-fake/11555868002/ |work=USA TODAY}} as well as images created by generative artificial intelligence software.{{cite news |title=Images of satanic-themed apparel at Target made with AI {{!}} Fact check |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2023/06/08/image-of-satanic-childrens-clothes-at-target-is-altered-fact-check/70299797007/ |access-date=29 September 2023 |work=USA TODAY}}{{cite news |last1=Brodkin |first1=Jon |title=DeSantis ad uses fake AI images of Trump hugging and kissing Fauci, experts say |url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/06/desantis-ad-uses-fake-ai-images-of-trump-hugging-and-kissing-fauci-experts-say/ |access-date=29 September 2023 |work=Ars Technica |date=8 June 2023 |language=en-us}} His methods have been used to expose fabrication of medical research records {{cite news |author1=James Glanz |author2=Agustin Armendariz |title=Years of Ethics Charges, but Star Cancer Researcher Gets a Pass |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/08/science/cancer-carlo-croce.html |access-date=29 September 2023 |work=New York Times |date=March 8, 2017}} prosecute child pornographers, validate evidentiary videos,{{cite news |author1=Steve Ranson |title=NTSB's findings on June 2011 Amtrak crash center on driver, truck's brakes |url=https://www.tahoedailytribune.com/news/ntsbs-findings-on-june-2011-amtrak-crash-center-on-driver-trucks-brakes/ |access-date=29 September 2023 |work=Tahoe Daily Tribune |date=Dec 11, 2012}}{{cite news |author1=Scott Sonner |title=NTSB: Bad brakes, driver at fault in Reno Amtrak crash |url=https://lasvegassun.com/news/2011/jun/24/us-amtrak-truck-crash-7th-ld-writethru/ |access-date=29 September 2023 |work=Las Vegas Sun |agency=Associated Press}} and rule out conspiracy theories relating to photographs of the Moon landing.{{cite news |author1=Thomas Walden Levy |title=Moonshadow |url=https://engineering.berkeley.edu/news/2014/05/moonshadow/ |access-date=29 September 2023 |work=Berkeley Engineering |date=May 1, 2014}}{{cite journal |last1=Kee |first1=Eric |last2=O'Brien |first2=James F. |last3=Farid |first3=Hany |title=Exposing photo manipulation with inconsistent shadows |journal=ACM Transactions on Graphics |date=June 2013 |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=1–12 |doi=10.1145/2487228.2487236 |url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2487228.2487236 |access-date=12 March 2018 |publisher=ACM SIGGRAPH|s2cid=11387432 }} In response to their work debunking assertions that the shadows in photos of the 1969 Moon Landing{{cite news |last1=Quenqua |first1=Douglas |title=Software That Exposes Faked Photos |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/20/science/software-that-exposes-faked-photos.html |access-date=29 September 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=19 August 2013}}{{cite news |author1=Larry Greenemeier |title=Fancy Figuring Ferrets Out Fake Photos |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/fancy-figuring-ferrets-out-fake-pho-13-08-20/ |access-date=29 September 2023 |work=Scientific American |publisher=Springer Nature |date=August 20, 2013}}{{cite news |title=Shadows and light: New software to detect forged photos |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130805152427.htm |access-date=29 September 2023 |work=Science Daily |date=August 11, 2013}} and of Lee Harvey Oswald, coauthor Hany Farid has been accused by conspiracy theorists of being a time-traveling CIA operative.{{cite web |last1=Farid |first1=Hany |title=A Lesson Learned! |url=https://www.gf.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/farid_article.pdf |publisher=John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation |access-date=29 September 2023}}

In addition to developing methods for detecting fake images and video,{{cite journal |last1=Kee |first1=Eric |last2=O'Brien |first2=James F. |last3=Farid |first3=Hany |title=Exposing Photo Manipulation from Shading and Shadows |journal=ACM Transactions on Graphics |date=23 September 2014 |volume=33 |issue=5 |pages=165:1–165:21 |doi=10.1145/2629646 |s2cid=14201094 |url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2629646 |issn=0730-0301}}{{cite journal |last1=Conotter |first1=Valentina |last2=O'Brien |first2=James F. |last3=Farid |first3=Hany |title=Exposing Digital Forgeries in Ballistic Motion |journal=IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security |date=February 2012 |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=283–296 |doi=10.1109/TIFS.2011.2165843 |s2cid=8893280 |url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5995165}}{{cite journal |last1=O'Brien |first1=James F. |last2=Farid |first2=Hany |title=Exposing photo manipulation with inconsistent reflections |journal=ACM Transactions on Graphics |date=January 2012 |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=1–11 |doi=10.1145/2077341.2077345|s2cid=207192001 }} 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.{{cite web |author1=Dan Brubaker |title=Fake Photos: Can You Spot Them? |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBFfD_1VCZQ |publisher=Studies Show |access-date=29 September 2023 |language=en |date=Apr 1, 2021}}{{cite news |last1=Kasra |first1=Mona |title=Identifying a fake picture online is harder than you might think |url=https://theconversation.com/identifying-a-fake-picture-online-is-harder-than-you-might-think-114546 |access-date=29 September 2023 |work=The Conversation |date=24 June 2019 |language=en}}{{cite journal |last1=Shen |first1=Cuihua |last2=Kasra |first2=Mona |last3=O’Brien |first3=James F. |title=Research note: This photograph has been altered: Testing the effectiveness of image forensic labeling on news image credibility |journal=Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review |date=25 May 2021 |doi=10.37016/mr-2020-72 |url=https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/research-note-this-photograph-has-been-altered-testing-the-effectiveness-of-image-forensic-labeling-on-news-image-credibility/ |access-date=29 September 2023|doi-access=free |arxiv=2101.07951 }} 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.{{cite news |last1=Mueller |first1=Chris |title=AI-generated images already fool people. Why experts say they'll only get harder to detect. |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2023/04/11/ai-generated-images-harder-to-detect/11593749002/ |access-date=29 September 2023 |work=USA TODAY |date=April 11, 2023}}{{cite magazine |last1=Ellis |first1=Emma Grey |title=How to Spot Phony Images and Online Propaganda |url=https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-spot-fake-images/ |access-date=29 September 2023 |magazine=Wired |date=June 17, 2020}}

• SIGGRAPH Impact Award (1999)
• Technology Review TR100 (2004){{cite news|url=http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/13811|title=2004 TR100: Computing|work=Technology Review|access-date=2007-10-10}}
• Sloan Fellowship (2004){{cite web|url=http://www.sloan.org/report/2004/research_fellowships.shtml |title=2004 Sloan Research Fellowships |publisher=Alfred P. Sloan Foundation |access-date=2007-10-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071023175223/http://www.sloan.org/report/2004/research_fellowships.shtml |archive-date=2007-10-23 }}
• College of Engineering Distinguished Alumni, Florida International University (2006){{cite web|url=http://fiualumni.com/2006_torchawards.htm |title=FIU 2006 Torch Awards |publisher=Florida International University |access-date=2007-10-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725103255/http://www.fiualumni.com/2006_torchawards.htm |archive-date=July 25, 2008 }}
• GVU 15 Impact Award{{cite web|url=http://gvu.cc.gatech.edu/what/gvu15main.php |title=GVU 15 Anniversary Celebration and Symposium |access-date=2007-11-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071225154306/http://gvu.cc.gatech.edu/what/gvu15main.php |archive-date=2007-12-25 |url-status=dead }}
• Jim and Donna Gray Endowment Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2008){{cite web|url=http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Faculty/Awards/teaching.shtml|title=EECS Faculty Awards|access-date=2008-03-03}}
• The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Award for Scientific and Technical Achievement ( A Sci-Tech Oscar, 2015 ){{cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/news/21-scientific-and-technical-achievements-be-honored-academy-awardsr|title=21 SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENTS TO BE HONORED WITH ACADEMY AWARDS}}
• Dreamworks Animation award for Technical Achievement for work in the field of Machine Learning related to Character Rigging (2020){{cite web|url=https://people.eecs.berkeley.edu/~job/|title=Awards and Honors|access-date=2023-12-12}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/~job/ Home page at U. C. Berkeley]
• [http://graphics.berkeley.edu/ Computer Graphics Group at U. C. Berkeley]
• [http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/b-cam Berkeley Computer Animation and Modeling Group]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070207151811/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1013226,00.html Article in Time Magazine]
• [http://portal.acm.org/author_page.cfm?id=81100311781 Author profile in ACM Digital Library]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, James F.}}

Category:Computer graphics professionals

Category:Living people

Category:Georgia Tech alumni

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Florida International University alumni

Category:UC Berkeley College of Engineering faculty

Category:Christopher Columbus High School (Miami-Dade County, Florida) alumni