NVIDIA ACE Unveiled at COMPUTEX 2023: Transforming Gaming with Generative AI
NVIDIA, a leader in AI technology, has announced the NVIDIA Avatar Cloud Engine (ACE) for Games, a groundbreaking custom AI model foundry service that brings intelligence to non-playable characters (NPCs) through AI-powered natural language interactions. This revolutionary technology allows game developers to enhance player immersion by enabling realistic and dynamic conversations with NPCs.
NVIDIA ACE @ COMPUTEX 2023
The NVIDIA ACE for Games offers middleware developers and game creators a platform to build and deploy custom speech, conversation, and animation AI models within their software and games. By harnessing the power of generative AI, NVIDIA aims to revolutionize interactivity and elevate immersion in gaming experiences.
John Spitzer, Vice President of Developer and Performance Technology at NVIDIA, expressed the potential impact of generative AI in games, stating, “Building on our expertise in AI and decades of experience working with game developers, NVIDIA is spearheading the use of generative AI in games.”
NVIDIA’s ACE for Games is built on the foundation of NVIDIA Omniverse and provides optimized AI models for speech, conversation, and character animation. These include:
- NVIDIA NeMo: A language model that allows developers to customize and deploy large language models using proprietary data. NeMo Guardrails ensure conversations remain safe and aligned with the game’s narrative.
- NVIDIA Riva: Provides automatic speech recognition and text-to-speech capabilities for live speech conversation within games.
- NVIDIA Omniverse Audio2Face: Enables developers to create expressive facial animations that synchronize with speech tracks, enhancing the overall realism of game characters. Integration with Unreal Engine 5 allows seamless integration of facial animation with MetaHuman characters.
Developers have the flexibility to integrate the complete ACE for Games solution or utilize specific components according to their needs. NVIDIA collaborated with Convai, an NVIDIA Inception startup, to showcase the potential of ACE for Games in building NPCs. In a demonstration called “Kairos,” players interact with Jin, an NPC running a ramen shop. Through generative AI, Jin responds realistically to natural language queries, creating a more immersive and dynamic gaming experience.
Purnendu Mukherjee, Founder and CEO of Convai, praised NVIDIA ACE for Games, stating, “With NVIDIA ACE for Games, Convai’s tools can achieve the latency and quality needed to make AI non-playable characters available to nearly every developer in a cost-efficient way.”
ACE for Games enables developers to deploy models locally or in the cloud, utilizing NVIDIA DGX Cloud, GeForce RTX PCs, or on-premises infrastructure for real-time inferencing. The models are optimized for low latency, ensuring responsive interactions and immersive gameplay.
Several game developers and startups have already embraced NVIDIA’s generative AI technologies:
- GSC Game World, a prominent European game developer, is implementing Audio2Face in its highly anticipated game, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl.
- Fallen Leaf, an indie game developer, leverages Audio2Face for character facial animation in Fort Solis, a captivating third-person sci-fi thriller set on Mars.
- Charisma.ai, a company specializing in AI-powered virtual characters, utilizes Audio2Face to enhance animation within its conversation engine.
To learn more about building on NVIDIA Omniverse and exploring the latest advancements in technology, visit the NVIDIA ACE booth at COMPUTEX.
Pokdepinion: NVIDIA ACE for Games represents a significant step forward in enhancing the gaming experience, allowing players to engage with NPCs in a more realistic and immersive manner. With its powerful generative AI capabilities, NVIDIA continues to push the boundaries of what is possible in gaming, ushering in a new era of interactive storytelling and dynamic gameplay.
