FRL in Pittsburgh was not involved with that earlier research. Facebook is “working through possible solutions” and Sheikh shared a few “miracles” which need to happen for this to become mainstream. He said their goal, overall, is to eventually transfer the technology to the product teams. He cautioned, however, that they first need to figure out how to produce realistic avatars with a minimal amount of information provided.
”Completing the rest of the body is” another miracle, Sheikh said.
Defying Distance And Digital Dopplegangers
In a consumer product, avatars of the quality Sheikh’s team and others at Facebook are building would fundamentally change the nature of communication. No longer will we be talking to cartoon approximations with limited expression. We’ll be talking to humans, regardless of distance.
This question of reproducing nuanced human expression is outlined by some researchers and scientists as one of the hardest to solutions to find in VR. One day, though, conversations with these kinds of avatars could be the primary form of remote communication, replacing and eliminating the limitations of video calls.
The development of this technology also carries with it enormous risks. The risk of digital impersonation is huge if your appearance and mannerisms could be worn like a costume by somebody else.
“The basis of communication is trust,” Sheikh said. “You have to be absolutely certain it is me.”
Sheikh explained the point in more detail over email:
This is early stage research and as we continue to develop this technology, we’re thinking pragmatically about safeguards we can put into place to combat misuse of the avatars. For example, we’re exploring the idea of making sure your avatar is secure in an authentic account. How we work with real identities on our platforms will be a key part of this, and we have discussed several security and identity verification options for future devices. Obviously we’re a ways away from this type of technology in headsets, but we want to think about solutions now.
Staff Writer David Heaney contributed to this article.
Tagged with: facebook, Facebook Reality Labs, oculus
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