Technology has been taken to the next level by Elrois, a South Korean tech company. As they have showcased in the Mobile World Congress, the biggest assembly of mobile tech companies, the mobile app called With Me is designed for users who have lost a friend, a family member, or a loved one and who are having a hard time moving on.
Elrois specializes in realistic 3D photo avatar solutions. With this, the users can scan their dead loved ones’ photos and convert them into3D images or virtual avatars. The avatars would represent the loved ones in the mobile app. Artificial intelligence (AI) is used to complete the character of a friend or a relative.
Now, the virtual avatar is not only limited to a dead friend or relative. Users can also create a celebrity avatar. In addition, the virtual avatar can be a representation of someone who’s away. Those who are using the mobile application can have a conversation with the virtual avatar.
The innovation in the With Me app is that it uses AI to reproduce the character of your friend or relative like it is a real person. The AI is designed to remember the users and their appearance. The virtual friend can also recognize the users’ moods and changes in appearance and make comments about it.
If the user asks the virtual avatar in the mobile app, it will respond. For example, if you say something like “I love you”, the avatar can respond with “I love you, too.” They can also reciprocate a kiss if the user puckers up. With this, you can take a picture with someone as if you two are kissing even if they are not physically with you.
According to an Elrois spokesperson, the goal of the With Me mobile app is for people to capture a memory of their loved ones that they can keep forever. In addition, it is for the users to remember precious people in their lives. It can also help people move on from the mourning stage of losing someone.
Furthermore, because of the hyper realistic 3D scanned image in combination with Artificial Intelligence, users can interact with people who are important to them. The virtual avatar can help users go through their sadness.
This vision from Elrois is something revolutionary but somewhat unsettling in the sense that it can also be used in a negative manner. This mobile app might confuse some users in separating the virtual world from reality.
It is true that this app might help people fight depression, but it might also help some users wallow in obsession. Some users might get fixated on the presence of the virtual avatar as a representation of their loved ones.
Through the combination of 3D photo-realistic avatar and Artificial Intelligence, the developer may be able to help people in their longing for a special person. However, the users should also know the boundaries of the virtual world and reality. It may be bizarre or creepy for some, but if by any chance it can help people get out of depression, then that is something worth getting. Would you take a selfie with a person you have lost?
