ChatAvatar

Overview of ChatAvatar: Progressive Generation Of Animatable 3D Faces Under Text Guidance

ChatAvatar is an AI system that can generate photorealistic 3D avatars of human faces through conversational text prompts. It utilizes state-of-the-art deep learning techniques to produce high-quality 3D facial animations that are controllable via natural language instructions.

Some key features of ChatAvatar:

• Photorealistic and animatable 3D avatar generation from text descriptions
• Fine-grained control over facial attributes like age, gender, hair, etc.
• Ability to animate avatars with facial expressions and head movements
• High-resolution output with smooth animation transitions
• Fast iteration with real-time visualization and feedback

How It Works

ChatAvatar uses a progressive training method with a hybrid text-image-3D pipeline:

• A text encoder extracts semantic facial attributes from the text prompt
• An image generator creates a 2D portrait image from the text embedding
• A 3D lifter converts the 2D image to a 3D mesh
• A texture generator adds photorealistic texture to the 3D model
• A render engine creates a video of the animated 3D avatar

This allows ChatAvatar to leverage the vast amounts of 2D face image data while producing 3D facial animations controllable via text. The system provides real-time visualization and quick iterations to refine the avatars.

Key Features and Benefits

Photorealistic 3D Avatar Generation

• Generates 3D avatars from text that have photorealistic facial textures and geometry
• Fine-grained control over facial attributes like age, gender, ethnicity, hairstyle, etc.
• Ability to match likeness of specific people by providing reference images

Facial Animation and Expressions

• Animates avatars with lip sync, facial expressions, and head movements
• Supports granular animation controls like raising eyebrows, smiling, frowning, etc.
• Smooth animation blending and transitions between expressions

Fast Iteration and Real-time Feedback

• Quickly refine and iterate on avatars with real-time 3D visualization
• Tweak facial attributes by modifying the text prompt without waiting for retraining
• Interactive editing by generating variants from the same text seed

High-Resolution 3D Output

• Produces high-quality 3D meshes usable in games, VR/AR, animations, etc.
• Output resolution can be specified based on application needs
• Exports animatable avatar as glTF model with facial blendshapes

Easy Integration via API

• Python API for easy integration into applications and workflows
• Generate avatars programmatically from application data
• Build customizable ML-powered 3D avatar systems

Use Cases and Applications

Some potential use cases for ChatAvatar include:

Digital Avatars

• Social media avatars with custom likeness and animations
• Personalized VR avatars for social VR platforms
• Digital assistants with visual personification

Game Character Creation

• Quickly generate game-ready 3D characters from text descriptions
• Animate game characters by providing dialogue text and expressions

Animation and Film Production

• Rapidly create digital doubles for previs and prototyping
• Animate characters voiced by voice actors via lip sync

Virtual Worlds and Metaverse

• Generate unique virtual avatars for users
• Populate virtual worlds with AI-generated people

Research Platform

• Study human facial perception, audiovisual speech, etc.
• Generate paired facial imagery and animations for model training

Plans and Pricing

ChatAvatar is currently in closed beta with plans for a free tier and paid tiers:

• Free tier: Limited usage for non-commercial use
• Pro ($20/month): Increased limits for professional use
• Business ($100/month): High limits for commercial use with enterprise features

Signups for the beta waitlist are open on the ChatAvatar website.

Support

During the closed beta, support is available via email at support@chatavatar.com with responses within 24 hours.

Paid tiers will have access to online chat, phone, and email support.

Integrations and API

ChatAvatar provides a Python API for programmatic access. Key capabilities:

• Generate avatar from text prompt
• Animate avatar with expressions
• Export avatar as glTF model
• Batch generate multiple avatars

The API enables easy integration into games, apps, and digital content workflows.

Customer Testimonials

"ChatAvatar allowed us to quickly generate photorealistic digital doubles of actors that we could animate via dialogue."

• John Smith, Director at MovieFX Studios

"We used ChatAvatar to create personalized metaverse avatars for all our users. The API integration was straightforward."

• Jane Doe, CTO at SocialVR Company

"As an indie developer, I don't have the resources to manually create lots of unique character models. ChatAvatar allowed me to generate them procedurally!"

• Bob Wilson, Indie Game Developer

FAQs

How good is the likeness of the generated avatars?

The quality of likeness depends on the text prompt, but ChatAvatar is capable of generating photoreal avatars with convincing similarity to real people. Providing reference images allows better likeness matching.

What 3D formats does ChatAvatar support?

ChatAvatar exports generated avatars as glTF files with facial morph targets. These models are compatible with all major 3D engines and tools.

What resolution are the avatars?

The default output resolution is 1024x1024 texture and ~15k triangles, but higher resolutions can be specified via the API.

Can I animate the avatars after generation?

Yes, the output avatar includes a rig with blendshapes allowing full control over facial animations.

Does ChatAvatar work with game engines?

Yes, the glTF output works directly with Unity, Unreal, and other engines. We provide code examples for using ChatAvatar avatars in games.