Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1536119
a p r i l • m ay • j u n e 2 0 2 5 c g w 1 5 D ialogue is the thread that ties a narrative together, bringing a story to life on screen. Games are now reaching staggering new heights of narrative complexity, and developers are seek- ing solutions that will allow them to deliver a more immersive experience for players across the globe. JALI Research's groundbreaking facial animation technology has played a major role in bringing more realism to games than ever be- fore. Known for its industry-leading animation tools rooted in aca- demic research, the company has breathed new life into narrative character-driven performances in games, animation, and interactive story experiences. Developed by CTO Pif Edwards and CCO Chris Landreth, JALI's tools allow studios to seamlessly integrate powerful automated lip sync and facial animation soware solutions into their production pipelines. Innovative procedural technology generates correspond- ing facial expressions via audio analysis, rapidly improving efficiency by eliminating the need to manually animate each and every line of dialogue. Acclaimed Polish game development studio CD Projekt Red came aboard as an early adopter of JALI's technology, utilizing it for their open world RPG Cyberpunk 2077—which features a massive amount of complex, story-driven dialogue. JALI allowed the development team to accurately and comprehensively localize the game in 10 sup- ported languages for players across the globe. Since its inception, the JALI team has emphasized the impor- tance of technical and creative collaboration across all aspects of production. As a result, they have joined the Anim Revolution, an ongoing collaborative initiative focused on redefining the traditional content production pipeline. This trailblazing collective of soware, hardware, and service provider companies has presented innovative demonstrations at SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques), GDC (Game Developers Con- ference), Unreal Fest, and other animation and computer graphics industry events. CEO Sarah Watling—who brings over 15 years of experience in leadership and arts production to the award-winning JALI Research team—gave us an inside look into her career path, the development and evolution of the company's innovative technology, and its ongo- ing collaborative initiatives across the industry. Can you tell us about your career path? Sarah Watling (CEO, JALI Research): I'm from Halifax originally. I wanted to be a music journalist, so I went to England and I worked at clubs and was a publicist for venues. I was always trying to angle into various publications. I ran out of money before I ran out of energy, which is I think a fairly concise way to express the reality of living in London. The media landscape was completely different at the time. The way you communicated news to outlets was very different, let alone the way you developed stories and informed them. I went to shows and I reported on what I saw. I tried my best to meet the people be- hind the scenes, and it was great. I met a lot of cool musicians, which I think at that age was the icing on it all. I got to travel to a lot of crazy places, where you're like, "How did I get here?" Sarah Watling, JALI Research CEO