Computer scientist, author and podcaster, Lex Fridman recently had the opportunity to interview Meta President Mark Zuckerberg, remotely in real reality, but up close in virtual reality.
Impressive photorealistic 3D avatars
Concretely, the two men who were not in the same place equipped themselves with virtual reality (VR) headsets to find themselves in the Metaverse, the famous virtual universe dear to Zuckerberg. In practice, interlocutors were able to converse as if they were in the same room via photorealistic 3D avatars, faithfully reproducing facial expressions. Impressive.
Remote communication undergoing a revolution
The program used is a project still in development at Meta called Codec Avatars, intended to significantly transform remote communication. It currently works with VR headsets equipped with facial sensors, it will arrive in the future on less bulky connected glasses.
Fridman himself admits that he had the impression of being in the same room as his interlocutor. In development since 2019, the technology will one day arrive for the general public, but we do not yet know when.
