GoKawiilUSC's Jernej Barbič Wins Technical Academy Award for Ziva VFX Simulation Software
Jernej Barbič, a computer science professor at the University of Southern California, has received a 2025 technical achievement Academy Award for creating Ziva VFX, software that simulates realistic muscle, fat and skin for digital humans and creatures. The technology, launched in 2016 through his startup Ziva Dynamics and later acquired by Unity Technologies in 2021, has appeared in more than 60 films including Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
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The recognition highlights how academic research in computer graphics and physics-based simulation can translate directly into tools that reshape visual storytelling in Hollywood. It also underscores the growing role of specialized software companies as intermediaries between scientific innovation and mainstream entertainment production, with acquisitions like Unity's signaling continued industry investment in this space.
- Ziva VFX enables realistic digital muscle, fat and skin simulations used in blockbuster films.
- The software originated from a startup co-founded by USC professor Jernej Barbič and was later acquired by Unity Technologies.
- Barbič's Academy Award recognizes the intersection of computer science research and cinematic art.
Wacom Intuos Pro Pen Tablet — If Barbič's muscle-and-skin simulations make you want to try digital creature work yourself, a Wacom Intuos Pro is the classic input device for sculpting and animating in tools like Maya, Blender and ZBrush. Its pressure-sensitive pen gives you far finer control than a mouse when shaping the kind of digital humans and monsters Ziva VFX brings to the screen.
See Wacom Intuos Pro Pen Tablet on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.Source: spectrum.ieee.org — Joanna Goodrich, 2026-08-28
Published there as: “Oscar Winner Brings Monsters to Life With His Simulation Software”
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