Michael J. Black

Michael J. Black is a computer scientist who served as a founding director of the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Tübingen, Germany, where he led the Perceiving Systems Department. He is currently an Emeritus Director at MPI-IS and Vice President of Digital Human Research at Epic Games. He is best known for his pioneering work on 3D human body modeling and tracking, including the creation of the widely adopted SMPL body model and its extensions such as MANO for hands and SMPL-X for expressive bodies.