Users will be able to replace their face with a realistic virtual avatar in FaceTime video calls from their smartwatch!
The presentation of the Apple Vision Pro managed to differentiate itself from similar products thanks to several features. Since then, we have been wondering which of them we could take advantage of on other devices. And Apple is already working to offer us an answer. According to a publication seen in Patently Apple, Apple Watch could get Vision Pro's Realistic Avatar feature.
This week, the United States Patent and Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals how a user will be able to capture and record images of their face and hands on an Apple Watch through the sensors and cameras on the back of the device.
The Apple Watch could have the Realistic Avatar function of the Vision Pro.
As Apple explained, The Realistic Avatar feature of the Apple Vision Pro will allow users to replace their face with an extremely realistic virtual avatar in FaceTime video calls. The headset's motion sensors and cameras will be responsible for detecting facial features and creating a high-quality avatar, which will be able to speak and move in real time.
According to Patently Apple, the Vision Pro or Apple Watch feature would require the user to first “record images of your face and hands on an Apple Watch via the sensors/cameras on the back”. After, the user will be able to join a FaceTime call and be seen by others in the form of a realistic avatar, just like with Vision Pro.
Apple states in its patent that there is a need for electronic devices with improved methods and interfaces for generating and/or displaying representations of users. Such methods and interfaces may complement or replace conventional methods for generating and/or displaying user representations.
If materialized, this feature would allow Apple Watch users to take advantage of part of the Vision Pro experience, without spending the more than 3,000 euros that it is believed they will cost in Spain.
This version of new Apple Vision Pro avatars offer a highly accurate version of users' faces. AND may be a good enough feature to make many switch from their preferred video calling service to FaceTimebeing convenient for Apple.
Despite the demos shared by Apple about the Realistic Avatar, It will be during the first months of 2024 when the first units go on sale and demonstrate their application in the real world. Therefore, its arrival on the Apple Watch, as proposed by this patent, could take several more years.