Text Messages Could Include Your Animated Face, Looking Frustrated
Talking Head University of Cambridge via YouTubeResearchers are solving the biggest problem in 21st century communication: What kind of emotion is that text supposed to express? The scourge of 21st century socializing is that text messages have approximately the same emotional capacity as a brick wall, and emoticons make you look like an overzealous 7th grader. When you say you're "fine," does that mean you're chipper or a little bit pissed off? The solution: Send messages containing an avatar of yourself reading your text, set to the appropriate emotional register. Engineers at the University of Cambridge and Toshiba's Camridge Research Lab have created Zoe, a virtual talking head that can display a range of emotions and change its voice appropriately. They used the face of British soap actress Zoe Lister, but one day you could upload your own face and voice to make your digital assistant look and talk...