PUBG maker teases virtual human - she s hyper-realistic and coming for your spotlight TechRadar Skip to main content TechRadar is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here's why you can trust us. PUBG maker teases virtual human - she s hyper-realistic and coming for your spotlight By Lance Ulanoff last updated 16 June 2022 Her name is Ana and she looks...happy? (Image credit: Krafton) Audio player loading… As if there weren't enough people already trying to become multi-platform stars, soon they'll all have to compete with ANA -- a hyper-realistic virtual human. Programmed by Krafton, which also makes the popular PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds battle royale game, ANA was unveiled on Wednesday in a pair of images. The stills feature only her head - or really just her face - but depict a pink-haired and somewhat playful person who looks as if she's deeply interested in the next thing you have to say. Eventually, we'll see more of ANA. Krafton promises that its virtual human will, as Head of the Creative Center Josh Seokjin Shin explained in a press release, "release an original music track and expand her scope of activity as an influencer into various areas across entertainment and esports." Based on the images, ANA does look real-ish. There are still issues around the teeth, too-perfect skin, and the plasticky-looking fingers lightly touching her face. Even so, the effect is, thanks to the inclusion of imperfections like faint pores, wrinkles, and tiny hairs on the skin, quite striking. Even without a full-body image or motion video, there's reason to believe that ANA could end up being something special. When Krafton initially unveiled its hyperrealistic technology in February, which uses face-rigging technology for subtle and vivid expressions, pupil movements, and natural joint movement, it also released a PUBG cinematic video (opens in new tab) demonstrating the current state of its virtual human technology. In the video, a group of PUBG competitors is battling a masked foe. Intermixed with the uncanny valley moments are a few scenes that come razer-close to true realism. One of the characters, a woman who gets shot in the arm, looks like a clear ANA ancestor. In addition to all the face, skin, and body technology, Krafton says it's employing deep learning to build an AI voice that will allow ANA to "act and sing just like a real human." We need this why We living in a world of fakery. Whether it's actors wearing other people's faces to recreate younger versions of the source actors (see Boba Fett and Luke Skywalker (opens in new tab)), Deep Fakers wearing other actor's faces (opens in new tab), or bots that think they're human, it's hard to trust anything you see, hear or read. Artificial humans, even artificial influencers, have been around for years. But few would mistake Miquela, for instance, for a real human. Based on what Krafton is promising here, though, we soon won't know if the TikToker telling us about the perfect cleanse or YouTuber singing an original song are flesh and blood or ones and zeros. We'll happily welcome ANA when she's ready to emerge on the digital scene, but perhaps she can stick to playing inside PUBG and not try eliminating one of the contestants on The Voice. Lance UlanoffUS Editor in ChiefA 35-year industry veteran and award-winning journalist, Lance has covered technology since PCs were the size of suitcases and "on line" meant "waiting." He's a former Lifewire Editor-in-Chief, Mashable Editor-in-Chief, and, before that, Editor in Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for Ziff Davis, Inc. He also wrote a popular, weekly tech column for Medium called The Upgrade. Lance Ulanoff (opens in new tab) makes frequent appearances on national, international, and local news programs including Live with Kelly and Ryan, Fox News, Fox Business, the Today Show (opens in new tab), Good Morning America, CNBC, CNN, and the BBC. See more Gaming news TechRadar Newsletter Sign up to get breaking news, reviews, opinion, analysis and more, plus the hottest tech deals! Thank you for signing up to TechRadar. You will receive a verification email shortly. There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again. 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