Digital Human Research 2023-on going
Converstation with a Metahuman_
I am currently conducting research on digital humans and MetaHumans within Unreal Engine, exploring their interactions and conversations with chatbots and AI systems. My work investigates the evolving relationship between human perception, artificial intelligence, and simulated presence, focusing on how these encounters reveal both the potential and the limitations of posthuman communication.
Building on concepts explored in earlier projects, I examine how a MetaHuman in Unreal Engine can serve as a reflective counterpart to human participants, generating dialogues that blur the boundary between authentic understanding and simulated performance. Using text-to-speech, facial animation, and motion capture, these digital avatars engage in interactions that expose the theatricality of language and the mechanisms by which AI reproduces human discourse — a key concern in posthumanism.
The research draws on themes of illusion, reflection, and simulation, highlighting how AI and virtual beings can imitate empathy, consciousness, and identity without truly possessing them. In this context, the work positions the MetaHuman as a mirror, a digital double that challenges our assumptions about communication, presence, and selfhood. These explorations resonate with broader theoretical frameworks, including hyperreality, semiotics, and the posthuman condition, showing how virtuality can transform our understanding of human and artificial intelligence alike.
Ultimately, this research aims to investigate the ethical, philosophical, and aesthetic implications of posthuman interaction, demonstrating how conversations between humans and AI-driven digital avatars open new avenues for understanding identity, simulation, and the evolving definition of intelligence in a digital age.
