Talking Avatar lets you interact with a computer face to face

In the future the way we interact with computers is going to change dramatically. The traditional keyboard and screen method is already being rethought due to the likes of smartphones and tablets. Then came Siri, which brought voice control to life. What next?

How about a giant face which you can talk with. Called Zoe, it is the most expressive and controllable avatar that has ever been created. It reminds us slightly of the clever way that faces were digitally mapped in LA Noire.

It took seven days of filming with a professional actress, resulting in Zoe having an extremely expressive and diverse set of facial expressions, which are all adjustable by the user.

Zoe has been built by researchers at Cambridge University. It is the interface of the future, making us think of an extension of Siri, adding more personality to voice interaction. It is designed to convert text to audio and visual signals, so could easily be implemented over normal voice control tech.

While it is a long ways off, this could very well be the future of how we interactive with computers, smartphones and tablets. The idea of a computer being emotional is fairly spooky, but could make a real change to how we use them. Wonder what happens if she gets a virus?

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