Text by: Javier Melús – ITCL Institute of Technology; Marteyn van Gasteren – Project Manager – ITCL Institute of Technology
The WorkingAge app includes virtual avatars – not only do they give the app a more friendly and fun aspect, they will also guide the user in the use of the app, indicating notifications and interventions with animations and speaking directly to the user.
Particularly helpful and amusing is seeing the avatar in augmented reality performing exercises or stretching, indicating the user how to prevent discomfort or pain and eventually help the user feeling better at work. The avatars can be personalized, choosing the gender and their clothing.
To achieve this, thirty different animations have been developed that bring these avatars to life, plus a multitude of facial morphs to gesticulate when speaking. A complex animation blending system has been made so that one expression smoothly passes to another in a natural and realistic way without sudden changes. Four languages have been set (English, Spanish, French and Greek) in which the avatars can speak with female or male voices. In the image, we see the female avatar doing a squat exercise in augmented reality.
