Jeff Kleiser completed a computer graphics major at Colgate University in 1976 and began a career in special effects at Dolphin Productions as an animator on the Scanimate system, a video synthesizer. After a year of studying holography at Laser Light Concepts Ltd., Kleiser began working at EFX Unlimited, an optical effects studio, as an optical cameraman and optical line-up editor. He was also founder, director and eventually president of Digital Effects, computer graphics company in New York. In 1986, Kleiser was hired by Omnibus Computer Graphics Inc. to direct the computer graphics segment of Disney's feature "Flight of the Navigator". He was then made Director of Motion Picture Special Effects Division and directed animation for Mattel's "Captain Power" pilot. Kleiser then moved to Robert Abel and Associates as Visual Effects Supervisor assigned to the feature project "Millennium" until the Omnibus / Digital Productions / Robert Abel conglomerate closed its doors in April 1987. Kleiser then teamed up with artist Diana Walczak to form Kleiser-Walczak Construction Company.

Diana Walczak, having studied engineering, computer science and sculpture, graduated in 1985 from Boston University. Since graduation, Diana has worked as a freelance sculptor and designer. In 1986, she began developing a three-dimensional human figure with Omnibus Computer Graphics. In January 19S7 she began developing a system for creating facial expressions and phonemes of speech for computer-generated characters. In April 1987, she co-founded Kleiser-Walczak Construction Company.

The debut of Dozo, the world's first computer-generated pop star, was warmly received by audiences of the 1989 ACM SIGGRAPH Film and Video Show in Boston last July. The three minute music video "Don't Touch Me" was directed and produced by Jeff Kleiser and Diana Walczak. It is a plea for mankind to stop mistreating the fragile environment. The lyrics of the song were written by Jeff Kleiser and Diana Walczak, with music by Frank Serafine. The melody of the song was created and performed by Perla Batalla.

Technical Background

A library of Dozo's facial expressions and phonemes was sculpted in clay by Diana Walczak and digitized to create key frames for Dozo's facial animation. Interpolation between these frames was achieved using software written by Larry Weinberg.

Dozo's body WAS also sculpted in clay and encoded into a database. Motion analysis data acquired from Perla Batalla's dancing was then applied to the database using body moving and flexing software by Frank Vitz.