Afro-textured hair in animation has long been oversimplified, but new algorithms now capture its true form

For decades, afro-textured hair animation has lagged behind illustrations of straight hairstyles. Renderings of Black characters do not typically represent the plethora of Black hair styles or specific attributes of Black hair: the kink in their strands, the spring in their curls. But now, for the first time ever, researchers have developed algorithms to depict coily, Black hair in computer graphics, a massive step for the portrayal of Black characters.

The findings have been published in a new study, which will be available to animators worldwide. The study is a collaboration between researchers at Yale University and the University of California, Santa Cruz.