Facebook sees realistic face-tracking avatars as key to VR’s future

Dozens of people are working at Facebook Reality Lab in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on research into ultra-realistic avatars that could redefine communication in the 21st century.

I spoke by phone with Yaser Sheikh, a Carnegie Mellon University associate professor running VR research in the city for Facebook since 2015. Sheikh offered context on a technical blog post released this week which details the company’s research toward ultra-realistic avatars. I followed up with Facebook over email for clarification after the call.