Yale receives $1 million to study ‘anti-racist problem’ of video game hair

A Yale professor will lead a team seeking to dismantle racism inherent in video games thanks to a $1 million gift, according to an announcement from the university.

Professor Theodore Kim “will lead a group that will investigate the algorithmic representation of Type 4 hair as a uniquely anti-racist problem,” the university announced. “Type 4 hair” refers to a type of hair typical of black women.

Professor Kim stated in the news release that “this research will serve as an example of how to identify the products of systemic racism in computer graphics and demonstrate how to take concrete steps to ameliorate their harm.”

“The tools and algorithms we aim to develop will allow the full range of human hair, in its elegant variation and diversity, to be faithfully represented in film and games,” he stated.

The College Fix contacted the computer science professor via email and asked what he hoped the research will do for video games in the future and if he sees any other areas where “anti-racism” and computer science intersect, but he did not respond.

“One of the physical characteristics that is most revealing of algorithmic bias is the representation of human hair,” the university stated. “Computer graphics research has historically favored the simulation and rendering of straight hair, which is racially coded as European or Caucasian hair.”

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