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Future Human

Challenges, timeframe and scope

  • Our vision for future-human communication allows people to feel like they are with each other even when they are far away. Our approach vastly improves upon the current video chatting platforms by incorporating VR and a full body scan to place people in the same digital environment. The combination of the high fidelity body scan and the immersive VR experience will feel realistic and natural.

  • This project will require the combination of VR technology and precise body scanning. While both of these technologies exist, they do not currently exist together. We anticipate that the computing power required to combine these technologies in order to create a realistic, real-time “digital world” that can be shared between two digital people will emerge in about 10 years. Other technologies that must mature are: audio replication, internet connectivity, and VR visuals.

  • Our VR app will be targeted for friend and family use. This casual use will narrow the scope of the features required of the app, reducing ethical and functional concerns.

User Psychology

Jane has lived with her parents her whole life in a quaint, suburb outside of Philadelphia. She just graduated high school and is headed off to college in California, thousands of miles away from home. She has never been away from home for more than two weeks and is terrified of the home sickness she may experience in college. She knows that she is going to miss her parents terribly and Facetime only provides a face to face interaction through a screen. Imagine being able to have a realistic interaction with your friends and family when your hundreds or thousands of miles away. Say hello to VivaMeet, the newest virtual reality technology that allows you to pick a location and meet up with your friends and family with real life interactions. VivaMeet helps people to keep “in touch” with their loved ones. This technology is perfect for anyone who is far from their friends and family to feel like they are still with each other.

Solution

​• Task analysis

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    • What is it? 

      • VivaMeet is a VR video calling app and 3D body scanner that allows people to meet in a realistic digital environment.

    • What does it do?

      • The 3D body scanning hardware precisely captures the entire user’s body, allowing them to meet and interact with other people in the VivaMeet VR app in a realtime and immersive environment.

    • Why?

      • Current long-distance communication methods lack the personal feeling of being with someone in a particular moment. VivaMeet aims to bring people together in the same environment, no matter how far apart they are.

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• Machine Learning

VivaMeet and the VivaMeet body scanner will use machine learning to ensure that the correct user performs each body scan. The application will learn about small and unique features of the user’s body and assess whether each rescan is performed by the correct person. This will allow VivaMeet to periodically lock the app and require a body scan as a password, preventing misuse or virtual VivaMeet identity theft.

Interaction & User Walkthrough

This prototype(video) shows a basic idea of how VivaMeet works and interacts with users. 

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The flow of VivaMeet is very straightforward:

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1. Body Scan

   • The first-time user needs to take a body scan in order to have at least 

     one model in the system.

   • When the user reopens VivaMeet every time, the system will show the 

     model that is automatically stored from last time. The user have an option 

     to retake or not.

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2. Contact List

   • The user can easily choose from who to call from the contact list. If the user           agrees to import the contact list, it will automatically synchronize from the       

     user's local contact list.

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3. Place

   • There are so many different places the user can choose from. The user also         have an option to add as many new places as they want or delete old places. 

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4. Summary

   • This summary page includes who the user is ready to call, and where the             meeting will take place. If the user changes his/her mind, he/she can always         go back to change anything. 

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5. Call

   • The user enters into the call page, waiting for the other to respond. 

 

 

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VivaMeet can use at anytime and anywhere as long as the user has carried the VR headset. This video presents a scenarios when a user Anna is studying math in a coffee shop on Sunday. She encounters some problems in geometric section and wants to ask her friend Amelia who is especially good at math for help. However, since solving geometric problems involves drawing out the geometric shape which is not easy to clarify through talking, Anna hopes that Amelia can sit by her side to explain the question through pen and paper. Therefore, Anna decides to use VivaMeet to meet with Amelia so that they can discuss about this math problem together face to face. Since Anna is not a first-time user, she can continue to use the body-scan model from last time to continue the meeting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Amelia is in her bedroom when she receives the call from Anna. She is not sure about whether to meet in her house since it is a bit messy, thus hesitating to pick up the call. Amelia decides to clean up her room first for a second and then accept the virtual reality meeting with Anna.  

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 Here/now to there/then

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  • VivaMeet will require a compatible VR headset, fast internet connection, and 3D scanning technology. Currently, VR headsets, such as the Oculus Go, allow users to download apps and consume content and video games in VR. These VR headsets also have user interfaces for inputting data and sensors for tracking movements. These features are essential for VivaMeet to function properly and provide a life-like video conferencing experience. Since they are still in their infancy, the next couple of years will allow these VR technologies to mature, making VR an even more immersive experience.

  • While the VR technology component of VivaMeet is almost robust enough to support the application, 3D body scanning technology still needs to become more affordable and accessible. Current companies like Naked Labs integrate precise body scanners into fitness and health applications, but they only produce accurate measurements of the body, instead of the high quality 3D images VivaMeet requires. Several years of 3D scanning and capturing technology improvements should fix this constraint.

  • A low-latency and high-bandwidth internet connection will be required to host VR video calls in real-time using realistic body scans and movements. While ultra-fast fiber internet connections are increasingly becoming more popular, the technology must be rolled out to more areas and for a lower cost before VR video calling can become mainstream.

Ethical/societal issues

VivaMeet is designed to keep friends and family connected. One ethical issue that could arise from VivaMeet is people who are using the app to try to talk with strangers, which could potentially lead to dangerous situations. Another issue that needs to be addressed is to make sure the cloud is secure so that no one can hack the database of saved body scan images and steal them.

Future Directions/Limitations

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  • Some future directions for ViviaMeet would be to make the virtual reality more realistic by including tactile qualities and sensesations. Another possibility for Vivameet would allow users to animate themselves before entering the chat; this would include features such as clothing, makeup, hair, and many more.

  • Two of the limitations of VivaMeet would be that users must buy a headset and a sensor. These devices would come from an outside company, which runs the risk of that company stealing data or breaching privacy.

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