Yes, that’s a computer generated model you’re looking at…

When the Burj Khalifa lit up last night in a brilliant light show to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan’s birth, we thought we’d seen the ultimate tribute to the UAE’s founding father. Turns out we were wrong.

A Dubai-based production company took it upon themselves to painstakingly recreate a 3D model of the late Sheikh in absolutely stunning detail.

The video, which was posted to the company’s Instagram account earlier today, took two months to produce, with Gulf News reporting that the team at NPD carried out extensive research on the Sheikh’s mannerisms, tone of voice and gestures in order to achieve an impressive level of realism.

The video has gone viral with close to 65,000 views as of this writing. And can you blame it? Just look at the level of detail they managed on this close-up 3D render of the late ruler’s face. Amazing.

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