NVIDIA is upping its game with its Avatar Cloud Engine (ACE) tech, aiming to bring in-game non-playable characters (NPCs) to life by making their responses and interactions more human-like. This upgrade lets game developers infuse emotions and personalities into NPCs, creating a more immersive experience for players.
The ACE technology (introduced in June 2023 at Computex), uses AI-powered natural language interactions to enhance NPC responses beyond the typical generic replies. It allows players to have more dynamic conversations with NPCs, staying within the game’s world. NVIDIA has now taken this a step further by integrating NeMo SteerLM, a new framework that lets developers fine-tune NPC personalities to mimic human-like reactions.
Unlike standard AI language models that provide neutral responses, NeMo SteerLM can be customized through simple sliders to match specific attributes like humor, creativity, or even toxicity. In a demo featuring the character Jin, a ramen shop owner, varying slider settings produced diverse responses.
For instance, with the ‘helpfulness’ and ‘creativity’ sliders cranked up, Jin responded about his slow business with:
“I think the new flavor I added might be causing the issue… I’ve made it more spicy by adding some fresh Korean peppers.”
On the other hand, Adjusting the ‘humor’ and ‘toxicity’ sliders gave humorous or defensive retorts respectively. While the demo shows potential, the challenge lies in maintaining controlled NPC behavior in actual gameplay.
NVIDIA’s innovative approach could reshape how players interact with virtual characters, bringing a new level of dynamism to gaming. The future of ACE with NeMo SteerLM seems promising, and NVIDIA is excited to unveil more advancements.