Apple unveiled an innovative #AI method for creating animated human avatars in #3D from real humans named #HUGS.
The technique means Human Gaussian Splats
It uses 3D Gaussian Splatting (= reconstruction from multiple points of view).
The features are:
🔹Recreates human avatars in 3D from video and scenes.
🔹Separates humans from static scenes in videos.
🔹Use the SMPL body model for human representation. SMPL = Skinned Multi-Person Linear Model. In essence, it is a way to render a realistic 3D model of the human body
🔹Generates animations
🔹Achieves high rendering quality at 60 FPS.
Why does this publication matter?
First, it is a clear signal that Apple is also in the AI models race.
Then, interestingly, Apple announced the Vision Pro on the 5th of June 2023, with the promise to provide a #Metaverse experience never seen before.
With HUGS, Apple pushes a foundational building block for making the #AR/#VR experience feel more like real life: the dematerialization of your avatar to increase the sentiment of intimacy and immersion.
Also, it pushes further the seamless continuum from digital to physical and vice-versa. It makes the #Phygital Experience.
Digitally generated media is essential to the future of the “Metaverse”.
Links: https://machinelearning.apple.com/research/hugs
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