Nvidia has unveiled an AI model that converts a single 2D image of a person into a "talking head" video. Known as Vid2Vid Cameo, the deep learning model is designed to improve the experience of videoconferencing. If you're running late for a call, you could roll out of bed in your pajamas and disheveled hair, upload a photo of you dressed to impress, and the AI will map your facial movements to the reference image -- leaving the other attendees unaware of the chaos behind the camera. That could be a boon for the chronically unkempt, but you should probably test the technique before you turn up in your birthday suit. The system can also adjust your talking head's viewpoint to show you looking straight at the screen, when secretly your eyes are fixed on a TV in the background.

A system that tracks your eye movements could help make video calls truer to life. Shlomo Dubnov at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), was frustrated by the inability to smoothly teach an online music class during the coronavirus pandemic. "With the online setting, we miss a lot of these little non-verbal body gestures and communications," he says. With Ross Greer, a colleague at UCSD, he developed a machine learning system that monitors a presenter's eye movements to track who they are …

It can adjust your camera's focus to place you in the center of the frame, reorientate your face and add virtual backgrounds. You can also have an AI avatar replace your face on calls, while Maxine offers real-time closed captioning and translation through NVIDIA Jarvis. The company says Maxine's video compression can reduce the bandwidth needed for calls by 90 percent versus H.264 compression. As such, video calls could vacuum up much less of your data in the near future. Maxine uses NVIDIA Tensor Core GPU acceleration and it runs in the cloud. So, you won't exactly need one of NVIDIA's latest graphics cards to harness these features if your video calling app of choice enables them. They should work on any device. Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet have some of these features already, but tapping into the Maxine platform could help them improve those functions. AI developers, startups, its software partners and makes of video calling apps can now apply for early access to Maxine.

In an effort to curtail the spread of COVID-19, many Americans are working from home as health global experts continue to encourage social distancing. While you've probably got plenty of board games, TV shows, and other entertainment to keep you company, they can't replace facetime with friends and family. Smart assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant can help! Here's how to quickly and easily video chat with your loved ones using Alexa and Google Assistant. Amazon has several Echo smart displays that can be used for video calls, like the Echo Show 5 (pictured).

They might be competing AI's from giant companies, but Alexa and Google still play nice together. On Tuesday, Facebook will release its second generation Portal, one of three new entrants into the "Video Display" wars to compete for your shopping dollar during the holidays. Facebook is trying again to take on Google and Amazon, striving to convince consumers they want a home unit for making video calls, looking at their photos on a digital photo frame, listening to music and watching video clips. Plus, Facebook is going further by bringing the concept to TVs, but not until November. Here's how the three compare: The original edition launched in fall 2018, to surprisingly strong reviews: Critics were surprised they liked it, considering Facebook's poor history with privacy.

Both Google and Facebook unveiled products for the growing "smart display" market this week. Facebook's Portal is meant to be the best way to make video calls; it also has Alexa built in so it can do just about everything an Echo does as well. Meanwhile, Google's Home Hub can quickly answer questions and pull up info from services like YouTube, Google Maps, Calendar, Search and Photos. It's also doubles as a command center for smart home devices and a pretty nice digital photo frame. Essentially, it extends what the Google Assistant can already do by visually offering more information than you can get with voice alone -- similar to what Amazon already does with the Echo Show.

Today sees the UK launch of Amazon's latest Echo home device, a glorified alarm clock, which could see the firm put a camera and microphone in your bedroom. Echo Spot, which also doubles up as a small viewing screen, will probably be facing directly your bed most of the time. The device, which has been available in the US since December 2017 for $130, is also being released in Austria and Germany for €129.99 (£114 / $160) It has such sophisticated microphones it can hear people talking from across the room, even if music is playing. However, there remain privacy concerns over using such a device in the home, as Amazon devices have previously been activated when they're not wanted - meaning this small device could turn into a potential spy. Amazon wants to put a camera and microphone in your bedroom with the UK launch of its latest Echo home device that doubles up as a'smart alarm' (pictured) Amazon devices have previously been activated when they're not wanted - meaning this small device could turn into a potential spy.

Amazon wants to put a camera and microphone in your bedroom with the UK launch of its latest Echo home device. The camera on the £119.99 ($129) Echo Spot, which doubles up as a'smart alarm', will probably be facing directly at the user's bed. The device, which is already available in the US has such sophisticated microphones it can hear people talking from across the room - even if music is playing. However, there remain privacy concerns over using such a device in the home. Amazon devices have previously activated when they're not wanted meaning this small device could turn into a potential spy.

Facebook is preparing to launch a new range of hardware including a big screen chat device and a smart speaker. The laptop-sized touchscreen and smart camera technology, codenamed Aloha, is said to make it so people connecting digitally through the device feel like they're actually in the same room. The secretive team is also working on an Amazon Echo-like smart speaker, 360-degree camera, and futuristic wearables. The laptop-sized touchscreen and smart camera technology, codenamed Aloha, is said to make it so people connecting digitally through the device feel like they're actually in the same room, and will compete with Amazon's Echo Show (pictured) The firm has put veteran executive Andrew Bosworth in charge of the secretive'building 8' team according to Business Insider, which is also developing a 360-degree camera and futuristic wearables such as Facebook's augmented reality glasses and the Oculus VR headsets. 'We are excited about our long-term investments in virtual reality, augmented reality, and consumer hardware,' a Facebook spokesperson told Business Insider.

Amazon Echo is getting an intercom function which allows users to'drop in' to the speakers remotely. Users can now access their Echo and Echo Dot speakers using different devices or the smartphone app. The feature was announced today in the US and will be available in the coming days. Users need to download the Alexa app on Android or iOS. To set up the intercom users have to go into the settings page in the Alexa app and name the device based on the room it is in. Users can then enable the'drop-in' feature.