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n an effort to help
people cope with the loss of their loved ones, a South Korean tech company is
developing an app that lets them take photos and converse with
digitally-rendered models of deceased friends and family.
Called “With Me”, the
controversial app was developed by ELROIS, a Korean firm that specializes
in creating realistic 3D avatars, and requires the featured person to sign
up for an avatar while they are still alive. Currently, they have to visit a
special booth where their bodies are scanned using special technology, but
ELROIS hopes that smartphones will soon come with built-in 3D-scanning
technology to streamline the process. The company then proceeds to create a
“realistic” 3D avatar based on the scanned images, followed by reshaping
and auto-rigging to make it animated.
Not only can users of
the With Me app take selfies with these digital avatars of their loved ones,
but thanks to artificial intelligence, they can also converse with them, or
have them react to certain commands or information uploaded to the app. “When a
user puts personal information in the app, the avatars remember the user from
that time and recognize if there’s some changes in the of users as well,” an
ELROIS spokesperson said. “For example, if there is a change in appearance or
an emotional change and the avatar will mention something about it, such as
‘you look younger today, what is your secret?'”
The avatars can also
track the user’s face and position and mimic their facial expression, posture
or hand movements. READ MORE
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