AI Driven Conversational Virtual Humans: A Prototype

The fast evolution of Computer Graphics, Animation and the Internet have enabled a novel concept: the Metaverse. It can be defined as a complex network of connected 3D virtual worlds, providing services and functions the real world cannot typically provide. In the Metaverse, virtual Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven Virtual Humans (VH) can help this process by shaping the user’s experiences in many ways [1]. VHs have been employed in many fields such as education, healthcare, technology, entertainment etc. However, one of the most significant barriers to the utilization of VHs technology is highly specialized programming and animation knowledge, as well as the effort required to develop realistic VH appearances [2]. We propose a novel methodology for fast prototyping of VHs focused on the following aspects: The development approach allows easy access to realistic looking and animatable VHs through Unreal Engine’s Metahuman Creator. Easy logic programming, especially for those who are not acquainted with typical programming languages through Unreal Engine’s Visual Blueprint Scripting language shown in Figure 1. The methodology provides a way to implement conversational AI and decision making that can be used for various application purposes