🐾 AI Accurately Recreated the Appearance of Ancient Humans
BBC Studios Science Unit and NOVA have unveiled four photorealistic 3D reconstructions of prehistoric human species: Homo erectus, Homo floresiensis (often nicknamed "the hobbit"), Neanderthals, and early Homo sapiens from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco.
🧬 How the 3D Models Were Created
Hundreds of cameras (154 for the body and about 70 for the head) scanned actors whose body shapes closely matched the presumed physiques of ancient humans. The resulting 3D models were then adapted to each species' anatomy based on fossil evidence—adjusting proportions, skull shape, and facial features.
Skin and eye color were determined using genetic studies and indirect methods. For example, the Neanderthal model features light skin as an adaptation to life in northern latitudes with limited sunlight.
"These are the most scientifically accurate collection of hyper-real 3D models of human species ever put on TV that we know of. They haven't been seen in the flesh for hundreds of thousands of years and no TV show has ever brought this many human species to life quite like this," said paleoanthropologist and series host Ella Al-Shamahi.
The reconstructions are part of the five-part documentary Human, which traces 300,000 years of human evolution—from our origins in Africa and expansion into Eurasia to the settlement of the Americas during the last Ice Age.
