"Tales about artificial beings have sparked
fascination and fear for centuries; now the tales are turning into reality.."

The Japanese government has developed a virtual human to act as one of its ambassadors to ASEAN countries. The author address the implications of this move and the characteristics of Japanese culture that make them more receptive to virtual humans and robots.

As virtual humans take on more important roles in the digital universe, real-world designers are getting the tools that lend them more control in shaping their digital brethren.

"After millions of years of natural selection, humans beings have some serious competition for their lofty perch on the evolutionary ladder--and the challenger has only been evolving for less than a decade. Some computer artists contend that anything we can do, "virtual humans" can do better, and they're poised to revolutionize moviemaking with a new species that doesn't require an astronomical salary, works around the clock without complaint, and lives quietly on a hard drive between death-defying stunts."

Researchers in Spain have developed a realistic voice synthesizing technology that could allow the creation of "voice fonts" for famous voices such as Elvis or Abraham Lincoln. The author speculates on the artistic and political implications of this technology.

Researchers at the University of Iowa are using artificial intelligence programs to create computer simulations of human soldiers to help test the performance of future U.S. Army combat systems.

Software cyberbabes, created by powerful computers, sophisticated modelling packages and active imaginations are getting extremely human-like. But they raise questions about what people might be able to do with the models if they get too realistic and we cannot tell the difference anymore.

In the foreword for a new book on Virtual Humans, Ray Kurzweil argues that "by the end of this decade, we will have full-immersion visual-auditory environments, populated by realistic-looking virtual humans."

Realistic, digital, human avatars on home computers are approaching reality as graphic processors continue to evolve.

Digimask, a British technology company, has developed a method for creating a virtual twin that can be used to represent users in the digital realm.