3D Avatar Emote Rendering for Non-Verbal Communication
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional videoconferencing and massively multiplayer online games lack the social interaction and experiential aspects of in-person communication, particularly in terms of non-verbal cues like facial expressions and body language, which are essential for creating relationships and connections.
Innovation Solution
A method for videoconferencing in a three-dimensional virtual environment where a video stream from a user's camera is mapped onto a three-dimensional avatar, allowing emotes to be attached and rendered from a virtual camera perspective, enabling enhanced non-verbal communication through graphical or video images that can include animations, sounds, and interactions within a virtual space.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If videoconferencing is conducted using conventional two-dimensional interfaces, then technical implementation is simple, but social interaction and non-verbal communication are lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from conventional two-dimensional video interfaces to a three-dimensional virtual environment where users interact through avatars. This dimensional change enables rich non-verbal communication through avatar animations, emotes, and spatial positioning while maintaining technical feasibility through standardized 3D rendering pipelines and network protocols.
2Loss of information
If facial expressions are used for nonverbal communication, then social connection is enhanced, but it is hard to discern them from a distance or from behind
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces avatars as intermediaries that represent users in the virtual environment. These avatars can display emotes and animations that clearly convey non-verbal cues regardless of the user's physical orientation or distance from other participants, solving the problem of obscured facial expressions in conventional videoconferencing.
3Loss of information
If videoconferencing provides real-time communication, then information transmission is efficient, but experiential aspects of in-person meeting are lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the efficiency of real-time videoconferencing with the experiential aspects of in-person meetings by combining live video streams, audio communication, and immersive 3D virtual environment elements into a unified system that preserves both real-time interaction and social presence.
Data Source
AI summary
A method is disclosed for videoconferencing in a three-dimensional virtual environment. In the method, a video stream captured from a camera on a first device of a first user and a specification of an emote are received. The specification is input by the first user through the first device. Then, the video stream is mapped onto a three-dimensional model of an avatar. From a perspective of a virtual camera of a second user, the three-dimensional virtual environment is rendered for display to the second user through a second device. This rendering includes the mapped three-dimensional model of the avatar, and the emote attached to the three-dimensional model of the avatar, where the emote emits sound played by the second device.