The Avatar Project

The Avatar Project is central to several WARA Media & Language activities and collaborations. The process started in 2023 when the WARA was given early access to the NVIDIA framework for the avatar. In 2024 the technical framework was utilized by WARA Media & Language partners and collaborators, with the ambition to use it as a testbed for evaluating technological components, e.g. speech and gesture generation.
One example is a pilot study with Modda Sörmland, Flen’s municipality and softserve where the premise was to explore the potential of an avatar as a digital study buddy and collect end-user input on the potential for incorporating avatar technology in a modern classroom.
Since then, the Avatar Project has developed into five related but distinct tracks.

  • Technical developments. During the fall of 2025 WARA Media & Language contributor softserve performed a six week sprint of technical upgrades to the avatar framework, including features like increased language skills, a stop and a mute button.
    • The Avatar as a receptionist at the UMU Humlab. Having the Avatar on permanent display in the research environment has opened up for exploring new cross-disciplinary collaboration initiatives and allowed students, staff, and researchers opportunities to interact with the different features of the avatar framework.
    • Wisdome and TellUs. The Avatar Project has synergies with these national initiatives.
    • Ericsson Learning. WARA Media & Language partner Ericsson is deploying their Global Talent program to investigate how conversational AI and the avatar framework can benefit their pre- and onboarding processes.
    • Modda Sörmland & WASP-HS. Following up on the outcomes from the pilot project, Modda Sörmland, WARA Media & Language, and WASP-HS are expanding the project to include other forms of conversational and creative AI to study their impact and role in the educational system.

      The avatar framework is accessible for collaborative research projects. Please contact us if you want to learn more and get involved.