Surveying the evolution of virtual humans expressiveness toward real humans

Abstract

Virtual Humans (VHs) emerged over 50 years ago and have since experienced notable advancements. Initially, developing and animating VHs posed significant challenges. However, modern technology, both commercially available and freely accessible, has democratized the creation and animation processes, making them more accessible to users, programmers, and designers. These advancements have led to the replication of authentic traits and behaviors of real actors in VHs, resulting in visually convincing and behaviorally lifelike characters. As a consequence, many research areas arise as functional VH technologies. This paper explored the evolution of four areas and emerging trends related to VHs while examining some of the implications and challenges posed by highly realistic characters within these domains.