Following the world premiere of the global innovation from Serbia that took place at Expo 2020 Dubai – the prehistoric MetaHuman man, who lived 10,000 years ago in Lepenski vir, was presented to the domestic audience at the National Museum in Belgrade, on March 4th, 2022.

Since this is an innovative project initiated by Serbian scientists and innovators, visitors of the museum will become a part of the scientific and digital revolution, supported by the national platform Serbia Creates. For the first time in the history of mankind, the digital face of the prehistoric man from Lepenski vir was animated and “revived”, using the cutting-edge MetaHuman technology, developed in Serbia.

Our scientists and innovators were the first in the world to reconstruct the facial expression and emotion of a man who lived 10,000 years

For decades, both scientists and the general public are searching for more information about how people lived and looked like in prehistory. The answer to this question has now finally been offered by a group of scientists and innovators from Serbia, led by prof. Dr. Sofija Stefanović.

Based on the analysis of excavated bones, a realistic 3D model of the skull of prehistoric man was first made, and then, using the MetaHuman technology, developed by a Serbian gaming company and the Unreal Engine software, the prehistoric man virtually “came to life”.

Ms. Sofija Stefanović, scientist and creative ambassador of the national platform Serbia Creates, who proposed the idea and the vision for the project, explains this exceptional achievement:

“We were using new technology called “Digital Ancient People”, that combines a variety of methods to create a science-based osteobiography of ancient people. These methods include state-of-the-art protocols for the study of bones, so we used these data to support the physical reconstruction of the face, based on the bones of the skull, followed by the transport of the reconstructed face to a digital biokinetic model that simulates his facial gestures “, concludes Stefanović.

Ana Ilić: MetaHuman technology brought together a gaming company and scientists

This innovation from Serbia has already caused huge attention of the global media and the professional public, points out Ana Ilić, senior advisor for creative industries and tourism to the Prime Minister of Serbia, who also leads the team of the Serbia Creates platform.

“This incredible combination of science and gaming industry, which is flourishing in Serbia, will have an impact and repercussions in many other branches of creative industries, primarily in the production of video content, but also in education, museology, etc, which is exactly what advocates the platform Serbia creates – the development and support of multidisciplinarity, cooperation in the field of innovation and creative industries, talent support, but also the image of Serbia as a modern and innovative country. I am very grateful to our creative ambassadors who recognized us as a reliable partner and who, along with this invention place Serbia amongst the most innovative countries in the world,” says Ilić.

MetaHuman caused great attention of both local and global public!

Thanks to the successes and results within creative industries, science and innovation, Serbia has already become the topic of numerous influential global media. So far, Euronews, The National, Gulf News, Time Out and many others have reported on the MetaHuman project.

Serbia Creates is a national platform and intergovernmental umbrella body in charge of global promotion of Serbia’s export potential in the field of creative industries, innovation, and knowledge-based economy. The Serbia Creates concept underlines the importance of creative industries, science, and knowledge-based economy. It provides support to local artists and creatives in gaining international recognition, promoting the highest contemporary values of creativity, innovation, authenticity, knowledge, and talent.