Mike Seymour

Mike Seymour

Researcher
The University of Sydney Business School

Mike Seymour has a B Sc. focused on CGI and Pure Maths from the University of Sydney where he also did his Masters (MBA) and his PhD. His research is into using interactive realtime photoreal faces in new forms of Human Computer Interfaces (CHI). Mike has worked for many years in the visual effects area of the entertainment industry, in R&D and in film production, winning an AFI and being nominated for a Prime time Emmy in the USA. He has worked as a compositor, vfx supervisor and second unit director on various TV shows here and in the UK. He is also well known for his work as a writer, consultant and educator with the web sites fxguide.com and fxphd.com. These sites provide an important link between the film and vfx community and the research community who constantly push the limits of technology. Mike has lectured and presented at NAB, ACM SIGGRAPH, CVMP and SMPTE. He regularly can be heard on the company's own podcasts, as well as having contributed to Warner Bros., Paramount, News Corp, the BBC (radio) and WIRED Magazine (over 70 times). Mike is based in Sydney, but has previously worked in Hollywood and London.

Mike does research into the use of photo real, realtime, computer generated faces for new forms of effective communication and education, and the issues that need to be resolved for adoption and acceptance.

From this author

Inclusive and workplace acceptance of refugees
Partnering for refugee employment

When considering their talent pipelines, few companies think outside-of-the-box. Most refugees flourish in the workplace, and so do the businesses that hire them.

SDG 16
Institutional investors demand a more sustainable capitalism

Honey gathering is a solitary job in Indigenous communities. The collector then shares the honey with their community but refrains from joining in the honey feast themself. The idea is that the gathering is not about their gratification, it’s about their contribution to the collective.  

SDG15 Bushfires
Optimisation model as a guide to burning forests to save forests

Setting fire to parts of a forest to save it might seem counterintuitive to urban communities. There is no equivalent of torching a few streets to protect a suburb. However, amongst First Nations people in Australia, hazard reduction burning is a well-established practice.

SDG13 - coal mining
Net zero now – it’s the economy AND the planet

In Australia, as elsewhere, the climate wars have focused on the climate versus jobs dichotomy. Yet while Australia remains highly dependent on fossil fuel extraction for its national economic prosperity it has also become increasingly unequal in its distribution of that wealth.