Avatar codecs is the technology used Meta to render photorealistic avatars and of which we could see the improvements during the Connect 2022. Achieving true “telepresence” in consumer hardware is perhaps one of the most popular ideas difficult to implement to prepare consumers. But perhaps that’s what the success of the metaverseboth for individuals and professionals.
Yaser Sheikh, director of research at the office Reality Labs of Meta in Pittsburgh, moreover declared in this regard:
I think most people don’t realize what’s coming.
avatars of Meta are intended to make you feel like you are sharing a room with another person who is not physically present with you. And if this miracle becomes reality (or rather virtuality), the concept could transform communications as profoundly as the telephone did in its day ! It is perhaps the closest thing to teleportation and the term “telepresence”.
So, will it be necessary to replace our telephones with Avatar codecs ? The answer is no. Because it is too much difficult to make a good scan with the means at hand. Currently, creating an avatar that captures both a person’s face and body with such fidelity requires several hours in two different and very expensive scanning systems, followed by at least four weeks of treatment.
But besides, do our avatars necessarily have to be as realistic as possible? That question, Meta obviously asked, and if you found the avatars to be like simsit is above all to lighten the resources of the helmets VR, but also a matter of choice. L’uncanny valleyyou know ?
This awful impression of being in front of a human being who looks like us in every way, but with this little inhuman something that makes him quite simply disturbingwhich is what most companies avoid producing, whether for avatars in Ready Player One or at Pixar in most of his productions. Childish characters arouse empathy more easily than ultra-realistic characters, although there are exceptions and Meta also intends to go against the trend of what is done globally in the industry.
Let us now return to our sheep and the digitization of our face and body. We mentioned earlier that we couldn’t replace our phones with Avatar codecs. Well, precisely, Meta work there!
the Sociopticon contains 220 high-definition cameras that require hours of scanning and days of processing to produce a Avatar codec hyperrealistic digitized. Once created, the avatar can change clothes as much as he wants and these drape over our character in the most faithful and authentic way possible.
Regarding this famous SociopticonYaser Sheikh said:
It has to be as easy as scanning yourself with a phone. The quality should be equivalent to the Avatars 2.0 Codec and the body should be complete. The next miracle would be to drive the avatar from the sensors and processors built into a VR headset, which can be mass-produced, and priced within reach of buyers.
Researchers from Meta announced that they would not allow anyone to handle the Avatar codec from someone else. This was already hinted at in 2019 with some of the first public reveals and reiterated during the recent demo SIGGRAPH of the avatars version scanned by phone.
The fact that you can trust and really know who you are talking to in VR or AR is the very basis of this technology.
In the same way as the Face ID ofApple scans your face and that helmets like theHolo Lens 2 where the Magic Leap 2 authenticate users with their iris, the own helmets of Meta could one day do the same in order to ensure that the person wearing the headset is the one projecting sound Avatar codec scanned specifically for the metaverse.
The future of Meta seems technologically interesting, even if we do not currently see the color or the effects. Speaking of the present, if the Meta Quest 2 still interests you, know that you can always afford it at the Fnac, Darty or Amazon for €449.99.