NBA star turned into a metahuman

Slovenian basketball player Luka Dončić launched his digital alter ego Luk.AI, created using Epic Games’ MetaHuman technology. This is reported by People.

The virtual version of Dončić was created using Unreal Engine 5’s MetaHuman tool. The avatar was also augmented with neural-network technologies trained on real-world facial animations based on the athlete’s performance capture.

“It was like turning into a video game character, but there was a lot of new AI that I still don’t understand,” Dončić said.

According to him, the avatar was created in a dedicated scanning studio, from which the data were handed to a team of engineers and artists. They then turned the collected material into a digital person who looks and sounds like the athlete.

According to Dončić, Luk.AI will manage his account on TikTok, where fans will be able to interact with him.

“I’m excited because much of this project feels like the future. Fans can teach it new things, and it’s also a way for me to share some of my interests outside basketball—tricks, games, cars, music, and fashion,” the star player said.

Dončić added that Luk.AI is the product of his wish to “continue finding ways to entertain fans, engage with them and bring more games into the world.”

The avatar will wear his signature sneakers and a Jumpman-inspired virtual flight suit based on a real product. In addition, Luk.AI is planned to be involved in a number of projects for children.

In August 2022, Nvidia unveiled the Omniverse Avatar Cloud Engine toolkit for creating 3D models of people.

In October 2021, Meta unveiled digital avatars for virtual and augmented reality.

Subscribe to ForkLog news on Telegram: ForkLog AI — all the news from the world of AI!