Google appears to be preparing a new Gemini-powered feature that creates lifelike 3D avatars from a simple selfie video, hinting at a future where you can join a call without ever turning on your camera. Strings discovered in the latest Google app beta for Android reference a tool called “Characters,” a system that mirrors Apple’s Vision Pro Personas and Samsung’s Galaxy XR “Likeness” avatars.
What the beta hints reveal about Gemini Characters
In version 17.4.66 beta of the Google app, a Characters option surfaces in the Gemini launcher’s overflow menu. Tapping it brings up a flow to “record your likeness,” followed by a prompt to capture a short selfie video that the software uses to generate a 3D representation. Early testers report options to edit or delete previously recorded avatars, though the capture flow isn’t fully enabled yet.
One code string — “assistant_ui_account_wasabi_button” labeled as “Characters” — suggests this is meant to live alongside Gemini’s core UI. Based on placement and language, the feature looks intended for use in video calls or other live interactions, acting as a real-time stand-in when you’d rather not appear on camera.
How Gemini Might Build Avatars Without Headset Sensors
Apple’s Personas and Samsung’s Likeness leverage sophisticated sensors on headsets to capture depth and facial motion. Phones don’t have that same sensor array, so Gemini likely leans on AI reconstruction: estimating 3D geometry from 2D video using techniques such as monocular depth estimation, neural radiance fields, or Gaussian splatting, then driving a rigged face model with blendshape parameters.
Google has the building blocks. MediaPipe Face Mesh already tracks hundreds of facial landmarks from a standard camera. Google Research has published extensively on text-to-3D and view synthesis. Marrying those with Gemini’s multimodal capabilities could yield a pipeline that learns your appearance from a short clip and animates it convincingly in real time, even on a smartphone.
The open question is compute. Real-time photoreal avatars are demanding. Expect a hybrid approach: on-device inference for responsiveness on capable phones like recent Pixels, and cloud acceleration for higher fidelity on slower devices. Latency, lighting robustness, and expression accuracy will determine whether this feels polished or uncanny.
Why avatars are a strategic play for Google Gemini
Camera-off meetings are common, but they strip away nonverbal cues. Avatars aim to return presence without forcing you on camera. That aligns with a broader shift in collaboration: McKinsey research indicates roughly 58% of U.S. workers can work remotely at least some of the time, keeping video communication central to daily work.
Competitors have already tested the waters. Microsoft Teams rolled out Mesh avatars, Zoom offers expressive avatars, and Meta has worked on photoreal Codec Avatars in the lab. Apple’s Vision Pro introduced Personas to keep users “present” in FaceTime while wearing a headset. Bringing a similar capability to everyday Android phones could put Google in front of a much larger audience than premium headsets can reach.
Gemini also gives Google a unifying layer: the same avatar could represent you in Meet, Messages, or even live streams, with styles that range from stylized to near-photoreal. Expect personalization options and context awareness — for example, dialing down expressiveness in a formal meeting or adopting a playful look in a gaming chat.
Privacy, safety, and authenticity considerations for avatars
Turning a face into a manipulable 3D model raises thorny issues. Where is your “likeness” stored, and who can access it? How is consent handled if avatars are used in workplaces or classrooms? Users will expect granular controls and easy deletion, plus clear indicators when they’re seeing an avatar rather than a live camera feed.
There’s also the risk of misuse. Google has promoted SynthID as a way to watermark AI-generated media; something similar may be necessary for avatars to help platforms detect manipulation and comply with deepfake policies. Any rollout will need to meet emerging regulatory frameworks, including rules around biometric data and transparency.
What to watch next as Google tests Gemini avatars
Because the feature sits behind beta flags, details can change and timelines are uncertain. Signals to watch include integration with Google Meet, broader appearance in the Google app, and references in Workspace admin controls. If Google pushes Characters beyond calls — into messaging reactions, Shorts creation, or accessibility tools — it could become a core identity layer for Gemini across Android and the web.
For now, Characters looks like a logical next step in Google’s plan to make Gemini present across communication and creation. If the execution lands, 3D avatars on everyday phones could turn “camera off” from absence into presence — and nudge the entire market toward AI-first, privacy-aware digital selves.
