Welcome to the ARVRinEDU Advent Calendar 2022! Our special focus this year is on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math). These mini blogs will spotlight an immersive resource that can be easily implemented into the curriculum.
3D Avatars (ENGINEERING, AR/VR/AI)
Today, we are utilizing a combination of three distinct tools to generate an animated 3D avatar that can be seen in augmented reality. AI (Artificial Intelligence) is a rapidly emerging field of engineering that uses complex algorithms and data analysis to create systems that can self-learn and replicate human behavior. AI engineering applies this technology to many different engineering fields, including robotics, computer vision, natural language processing, and machine learning. This unique combination of technologies gives us a peek into the future of learning, interacting, and communicating.
Augmented reality is a great way to explore the digital world of avatars. To begin, I first created my avatar using Ready Player Me. Ready Player Me is an avatar creation platform that allows users to create their own 3D avatars to represent themselves in virtual reality. With Ready Player Me, users can choose from a wide variety of avatar components such as body shape, skin color, hairstyle, clothes, and accessories to create a custom avatar that looks just like them.
Steps to create your avatar in Ready Player Me
Create an account here.
Capture a photo of yourself or select an existing avatar from the collection.
Personalize your avatar by selecting from the extensive selection of over 300 customizations and import your Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) in the future.
Export and share your avatar! Utilize your new avatar on over 5000+ apps and games.
Next, I used DeepMotion to animate my 3D avatar. DeepMotion, a motion capture technology, can be used to create realistic, life-like avatars that can be customized and used in AR or VR. With DeepMotion, you can easily customize avatars by uploading a video of yourself and the AI technology superimposes your expressions, movements onto your avatar.
Steps to animate your 3D avatar using DeepMotion.
You'll need to create your avatar in DeepMotion
Try the freemium plan. Keep in mind that the monthly allotment is limited, especially when using some of the features like hand tracking.
Upload a video of at least half of your body
Create and download the zip files (FBX and GLB are the most commonly accepted).
Last, I uploaded my animated 3D avatar to a popular AR platform called MyWebAR. Create amazing augmented reality experiences easily using the powerful and user-friendly no-code platform! The MyWebAR platform makes it simple to design and publish your AR experiences quickly and dramatically.
Steps to turn your animated 3D avatar into AR using MyWebAR.com.
Create an account.
Upload the animated 3D avatar zip file.
Customize the size and positioning of your avatar on the scene, and add captions, animations, or actions.
Generate a QR code and share it with your students. By scanning the code, they can view your AR scene in their browsers.
VIEW MY ANIMATED AVATAR NOW! Scan the QR code below using your mobile device or click this link.
