His avatar and that of the interviewer conversed in the virtual space using Meta Quest Pro headsets
The past few days have been crucial for Meta . On Wednesday 27 September there was the conference for developers called Connect , where the tech giant made official the introduction of artificial intelligence on its social platforms, including WhatsApp. And also the entry onto the market of the Meta Quest 3, the new advanced MR (mixed reality) viewer. Two new features that demonstrate Meta’s interest in AI , considered the key factor in speeding up user interaction on its platforms, just as the new viewer aims to be a game changer for virtual reality and digital interaction in reality .
Meta’s other epochal move came the following day, Thursday 28 September, when the Facebook founder appeared on Lex Fridman’s YouTube channel – known for his interviews with big tech protagonists – in the first interview conducted in the Metaverse . Fridman appeared in the form of a photorealistic avatar and announced that he and Mark Zuckerberg would converse, facing each other, hundreds of miles away, thanks to their avatars. Fridman and Zuckerberg then showed themselves wearing a visor that projected their faces and expressions in a photorealistic way for the rest of the interview.
“ We’re physically distant, but it feels like we’re in the same room ,” begins Fridman – “ that’s because we show ourselves as Codec Avatars in 3D . This technology is incredible, and I think it will be the future of how we connect with each other to express our emotions ,” continues the American podcaster.
In fact, this is the first time Meta avatars have appeared in public , after they were already announced in 2022. An advanced system that collects extensive data on a person’s facial expressions, which is then used to create a virtual model that accurately reproduces such expressions during conversations. As emerges during the interview, the scanning process to replicate avatars in the Metaverse is still a long one , which is why it will still take time to make the technology accessible to all consumers.
Meta has announced its plan to develop responsive and instant avatars that promptly respond to commands from users wearing headsets with facial recognition sensors . ” We’re working on a project that will do a quick scan with your phone. Just take your phone, wave it in front of your face for a couple of minutes , say a few sentences and make a lot of expressions ,” Zuckerberg told Fridman. Are you curious? see the interview? Here she is:
