Zombie Wars for iPad Transforms Readers and Their Friends Into 3D Characters in a Free Digital Comic

From Image Metrics press release:

Santa Monica, CA -- Image Metrics Inc. [1] announced the availability of Zombie Wars, an iPad® exclusive free digital comic app that lets users insert their images into a tale of a zombie outbreak and become the main characters. Showcasing the impressive power and innovative features behind PortableYou™, a new platform for creating 3D customizable avatars from 2D facial photos, Zombie Wars is the first product for consumers that utilizes Image Metrics' technology to produce and share personalized content.

In Zombie Wars, users can cast themselves and friends in a witty tale of medical science gone awry, as one of three characters - the evil Dr. Reinhart, journalist Adrian Cooper, or a criminal turned zombie. By uploading or snapping a picture with the iPad 2's front-facing camera and using the PortableYou processing system, Zombie Wars transforms regular photos into stylized images of user's faces consistent with the comic artwork.

In a special "casting" section, users can create customized, cover art posters of their characters and share them via Facebook, Twitter and email from within the app.

"Zombie Wars is our first consumer application, a great story that also gives users the ability to create and share a fun experience that takes advantage of our avatar creation software," said Robert Gehorsam, CEO of Image Metrics. "Combining PortableYou's rich feature set and ease-of-use with the iPad's functionality, Zombie Wars also shows off a publishing engine that gives users  -- and other content creators -- the ability to create their own customized content with minimal effort or technical expertise."

PortableYou is a groundbreaking platform for developers as well as for online and mobile entertainment, social network and communications companies. PortableYou provides end-users with the ability to instantly generate customizable 3D avatars from facial photos. Using PortableYou, Zombie Wars takes a single image of the user's face, then utilizes server processing in conjunction with the Unity3D engine to render the image, wrapping it around an adaptive 3D wireframe that molds to fit the context-appropriate position in the comic.

To develop the story for Zombie Wars, Image Metrics turned to the creative team of writer Jon Price (Magus), artist Wayne Nichols (STAR WARS: The Force Unleashed), colorist Charlie Kirchoff (Doctor Who) and designer Kurt Bieg of Simple Machine.  The result is an entertaining tour de force that fuses the iPad's media and social capabilities with Image Metrics technology.

To download Zombie Wars for iPad, please visit:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/zombie-wars/id491149222?ls=1&mt=8  [2] 

Find out more about Zombie Wars by visiting the official Zombie Wars Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/ZombieWarsComic [3] 

Follow us on Twitter: @ZombieWarsComic [4] 

For developers interested in more information about PortableYou, please contact PortableYou@image-metrics.com [5] or visit: http://www.image-metrics.com/Portable-You/PortableYou  [6] 

For more information on Unity, please visit: http://www.unity3d.com/ [7]

About Image Metrics, Inc.
Founded in 2000, Image Metrics is revolutionizing 3D character animation through award-winning technologies such as Faceware™ and PortableYou™. The company provides complete solutions for the film, television, interactive entertainment and commercial markets, and its new PortableYou platform enables online consumers to produce highly personalized immersive experiences in digital media through the instant creation of customizable 3D avatars. Image Metrics is the go-to leader for facial animation technology with a client roster that includes such industry-leading companies as Activision-Blizzard, Rockstar, Microsoft, 2K Sports, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Sega, Sony, Bethesda, Double Negative, Motion Theory and Moving Picture Company. Image Metrics is headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif., with its R&D center located in Manchester, UK. For more information, please visit www.Image-Metrics.com [8].