NVIDIA has rolled out production microservices tailored for the NVIDIA Avatar Cloud Engine (ACE). These microservices open doors for game, tool, and middleware developers, allowing seamless integration of generative AI models into digital avatars within their games and applications.
ACE’s microservices offer developers the chance to craft interactive avatars employing advanced AI models such as NVIDIA Omniverse Audio2Face (A2F) and NVIDIA Riva automatic speech recognition (ASR).
A2F enables the creation of vivid facial animations from audio inputs, while Riva ASR empowers the development of customizable multilingual speech and translation applications using generative AI.
Embracing the ACE initiative are industry-leading developers including Charisma.AI, Convai, Inworld, miHoYo, NetEase Games, Ourpalm, Tencent, Ubisoft, and UneeQ.
Keita Iida, NVIDIA’s Vice President of Developer Relations, highlighted, “Generative AI technologies are reshaping every facet of our activities, including game development and gameplay. NVIDIA ACE presents a new horizon for game developers by infusing their virtual realms with lifelike digital characters, eradicating the need for pre-scripted dialogues and ensuring heightened in-game immersion.”
Top Developers Leading the ACE Revolution Esteemed game and interactive avatar developers are at the forefront of pioneering ACE and generative AI technologies, revolutionizing player interactions with non-playable characters (NPCs) in games and applications.
Zhipeng Hu, Senior Vice President of NetEase and Head of LeiHuo business group, remarked, “NVIDIA’s prowess in gaming technologies has been exemplary, introducing novel and innovative ways to create games. NVIDIA’s integration of gaming AI technologies is elevating game intelligence and playability, fostering an unparalleled immersive experience.”
Tencent Games stated, “This marks a pivotal moment for AI in gaming. NVIDIA ACE, in partnership with Tencent Games, is laying the groundwork to introduce digital avatars with distinct, lifelike personalities and interactions to video games.”
ACE Redefines NPC Interactions Historically, NPCs operated with predefined responses and limited facial animations, leading to brief, transactional interactions often overlooked by players.
Purnendu Mukherjee, Founder and CEO at Convai, highlighted, “Generative AI-powered characters in virtual worlds unlock various use cases and experiences that were previously impossible. Convai utilizes Riva ASR and A2F to enable lifelike NPCs, ensuring low-latency responses and high-fidelity natural animation.”
NVIDIA, in collaboration with Convai, amplified the NVIDIA Kairos demo, initially showcased at Computex, incorporating ACE microservices and new functionalities. The upgraded Kairos leverages Riva ASR and A2F extensively to enhance NPC interactivity, enabling NPCs to engage in conversations, exhibit object awareness, guide players, and traverse virtual landscapes.
The Audio2Face and Riva automatic speech recognition microservices are now available, offering interactive avatar developers the opportunity to seamlessly integrate these models into their developmental workflows.
