Will the future of human interactions be in the digital space? In a world where physical interactions are becoming more and more complex (whether because of the persistent sanitary situation or the increased need to meet from every part of the world instantly), there is a huge hype around immersive technologies to imagine new types of social interactions.

Meet the future of social interactions with photorealistic 3D avatars

Deutsche Telekom, which is always at the forefront of digital innovation, wanted to create a brand-new AR experience, allowing its customers to conquer the digital world with their twin avatars. It was another occasion for Immersiv.io to collaborate with them to push the boundaries of what’s possible with smartphones today, especially in terms of capacity & connectivity, by working on an Android MVP relying on 5G enabled smartphones.

Some customers of Deutsche Telekom were able to scan themselves in a 360-degree scan cabin based on Doob 3D Technology systems, in order to create a photorealistic digital 3D avatar of them. By creating 3D avatar of yourself, you’ll be able to share new types of personalized content with your friend or family, or instead participate in meetings or events remotely with a more effective presence.

Then, the main challenge for us was to integrate this avatar into an app, and create realistic and smooth animations that the smartphone’s capacity can handle and display in the real world with AR. The goal was to present a digital app integrating animations and heavy 3D elements, like in a high-end console running complex game engines, on a simple smartphone, which remains a challenge today.

As these 3D realistic avatars are also made for social sharing, it is also important to rely on a good connection, because large amounts of data must be sent in a short time to be used in the digital world. 5G is also a key element to make this type of experience possible. with 5G’s increased bandwidth & low latency, everyone will be able to capture high-resolution images & 3D content and share it easily.

A social augmented reality experience

Through this MVP, users just have to scan the environment in front of them (android smartphones use ARCore to properly detect the real-world and allow realistic interactions between the 3D avatar and the floor). Then, the user can place his/her own digital twin within the room, and scale, rotate or move it freely on the floor.

Finally, users are able to choose different backgrounds (like Mars or the Eiffel Tower) or keep their actual background and play different animations. They can also take pictures or videos of their digital twin dancing on mars or sending love by offering flowers & share it on social media or send it to friends with brand-new types of messaging.

Once you’ve created your own personal 3D avatar, you will be able to do everything in the digital area, and use it for entertainment purposes but more generally to interact virtually with everyone in an “augmented world”, just through your smartphone or smartglasses.

Once again, Deutsche Telekom & Immersiv.io have partnered to present an innovative digital experience using augmented reality technologies & 5G network and showcased the future of entertainment!

Special thanks to Kristina Wunderer (Product Manager 5G at Deutsche Telekom) & to the Deutsche Telekom team for giving us this opportunity.