Avatars

A dozen betting websites, which were part of the infamous Mahadev betting syndicate banned by the central government in November 2023, have resurfaced in new avatars and are continuing to operate with different internet addresses, multiple gaming analysts told ET.These proxy websites have resurfaced with new betting games under different labels. The banned URL Parimatch has become pari-match-bet.in, Lotus365 is now lotus365.co while Fairplay has become fair-play.com.in or fairplay24.in. Elevate Your Tech Prowess with…

Big tech’s big dreams of a corporate metaverse filled with virtual reality workplaces aren’t quite dead yet, at least according to Microsoft. The Redmond, Washington tech giant finally unveiled its 3D Mesh integration for Microsoft Teams, offering a new wave of generic-looking, legless avatars for making work meetings a fair bit more awkward.Warning! Microsoft Wants ChatGPT to Control Robots NextAs envisioned by Microsoft, this new Teams Mesh integration essentially lets users access 3D avatars, then stick them in…

Fresh off retirement, the band reveals that "a show" by their digital counterparts is four years away During Kiss’ final concert earlier this month, the (allegedly) retiring band announced plans to continue on as digital avatars. On Friday, the Destroyer act revealed when their “new era” will begin: 2027. “50 years is a long time, and what the future holds is in the making,” Kiss said in their latest promotional video trumpeting their digital forms. “A show is coming.”…

Screenshot: NetflixWhen Netflix first announced it was bringing the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender to live-action, it was doing so with the help of the people who helped shape it in the first place: Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino. Then, two years later, they suddenly weren’t. And for remaining showrunner Albert Kim, that lead to some tough decisions.Netflix Passwords, ChatGPT Can’t Detect AI, and No More CoTweets | Editor Picks “You’d have to be an idiot not to be intimidated a little bit,” Kim told…

Meta A new face-tracking extension lets Meta Quest Pro users poke their tongues out at you in a wordless statement of their feelings or even blow a raspberry. How better to express a sweltering day or an exhausting workout? This could be the technology that revolutionizes VR in 2024. Am I being too tongue-in-cheek? Honestly, it’s a nice option to add to the Quest Pro’s current hand-, eye-, and face-tracking. Meta’s most expensive VR headset allows quite a range of expression already. I can gesture with my hands,…

There has been a recent explosion of Gaussian Splatting papers and the avatar space is no exception. How do they work and are they going to revolutionise the field?Gaussian Splatting at an early stage of training. Image by the author.And breathe… If you’re interested in the research into digital humans and have any form of social media, you’ve almost certainly been bombarded by dozens of papers applying Gaussian splatting to the field. As the great Jia-Bin Huang said: 2023 is indeed the year of replacing all NeRFs with…

Image: 20th Century Studios2023 has been a union-heavy year, and in the case of Disney, it’s seen the formation of entirely new unions. VFX artists at both Marvel Studios and Disney overall successfully unionized this year, in what some referred to as a “hot labor summer.” Turns out, it’s more of a hot labor year, because the team behind James Cameron’s Avatar movies are aiming to make it three for three. Spoilers of the Week: July 8thEarlier in the week, 83 artists at Lightstorm Entertainment filed with the National…

At a quiet cemetery in eastern China, bereaved father Seakoo Wu pulls out his phone, places it on a gravestone and plays a recording of his son.They are words that the late student never spoke, but brought into being with artificial intelligence.Elevate Your Tech Prowess with High-Value Skill CoursesOffering CollegeCourseWebsiteMITMIT Technology Leadership and InnovationVisitIIM KozhikodeIIMK Senior Management ProgrammeVisitIIM LucknowIIML Executive Programme in FinTech, Banking & Applied Risk ManagementVisit"I know…

HAIAN, CHINA - NOVEMBER 7, 2023 - A crab farmer sells crabs via a live webcast at Xinhai village in Haian city, Jiangsu province, China, Nov 7, 2023. (Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesBEIJING — Livestream shopping is taking off in China, driving development of new tech products such as virtual human streamers and mobile data packages.It's an attempt to monetize — and innovate — in one of the few bright spots for an economy that's largely slowing in growth.Livestreaming…

When Kiss finally completed the final concert of their final tour on Saturday night – four years after it began, and more than two decades since their first “farewell” tour – they used their encore to debut their afterlife, courtesy of digital avatars.As Kiss walked off the stage at Madison Square Garden, each of the four band members were replaced by a suite of flying, fire-breathing avatars of their younger personas, towering on screens above the crowd to perform a rendition of God Gave Rock’n’Roll to You II.The avatars…