Nvidia wants to fill the virtual and physical worlds with AI avatars

Nvidia has announced a new platform for creating virtual agents named Omniverse Avatar. The platform combines a number of discrete technologies -- including speech recognition, synthetic speech, facial tracking, and 3D avatar animation -- which Nvidia says can be used to power a range of virtual agents. In a presentation at the company's annual GTC conference, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang showed off a few demos using Omniverse Avatar tech. In one, a cute animated character in a digital kiosk talks a couple through the menu at a fast food restaurant, answering questions like which items are vegetarian. The character uses facial-tracking technology to maintain eye-contact with the customers and respond to their facial expressions. "This will be useful for smart retail, drive-throughs, and customer service," said Huang of the tech.