Meta brings real-time voice and video conversations to its Muse assistant

The feature, first shown at the company's Connect developer conference in September, is currently accessible on mobile devices including iOS, as well as on the web and Mac. TechCrunch notes that Meta's chief AI officer, Alexandr Wang, shared the rollout announcement alongside an online demo, while The Verge reported the news coming from chief executive Mark Zuckerberg. [1][2]

The calls are powered by Meta's Muse Realtime Avatar and Muse Realtime Voice models. During conversations, an animated default avatar nicknamed Jolly speaks back with expressions and gestures designed to reflect the conversational tone. Users can customize the avatar into human, animal, or character designs, and adjust voice tones either through avatar settings or by speaking directly to the assistant. Meta believes anthropomorphizing the agent will help consumers feel closer to it, and plans to bring the capability to its AI Glasses alongside an upcoming wearable hardware device called the Muse Charm before the end of the year. [1][2]