Mike Shinoda backs a startup that lets you make video calls as NFT avatars

When I talk to Tong Pow on Google Meet, he appears as a cartoon cat wearing a medieval helmet who talks and shakes his head, mirroring Pow's movement behind the webcam. The visor may be hiding a Cheshire Cat smile, as Pow raised $6.5 million for his San Francisco-based startup Hologram Labs just seven months after launch.

NFT avatars have become commonplace on social media platforms, representing the identity and status of their owners. But these blockchain-verified jpegs have limitations; they are static and do not reflect changes in the physical self. Hologram wants to change that by bringing NFT avatars to life.

Pow, who worked at Ox Labs, a builder of decentralized exchange protocols, and co-founder Hongzi Mao, who holds a PhD in computer science. from MIT, have created a desktop tool that uses machine learning algorithms to transform stationary avatars into motion-tracked avatars. Available as a Chrome extension, Hologram replaces Pow's actual video feed with the cat's avatar, part of an NFT collection called Cool Cats.

“Think of it as a machine learning model compressed and deployed to the browser. The technology has only been feasible in the past few years, with the speed and efficiency to operate in real time,” explains Pow, adding that the AI ​​model is trained using only publicly available data.

Once the model is deployed to the browser, it then transmits the face tracking points captured by the camera to the avatar, which executes the movements live.

"To create characters with motion tracking, it either requires expensive hardware for deep tracking, or some platforms that don't provide the best user experience, so our goal is really to create the tool and the application allowing users to become virtual characters in one click”, explains the founder.

This motion capture avatar technology is no stranger to Vtubers, or virtual YouTubers who stream or upload videos using live anime characters.

But I'm a bit surprised when Pow appears as a virtual being - he didn't warn me. The voice comes from Pow, an eloquent and composed young founder, but the cat's expressions are a little numb, lacking the sophisticated human facial expressions.

Should I even make eye contact with Cool Cat? I'm not quite crawling in my skin, but it's a new experience.

Hologram strives to add more sophistication to its solution by adding hand tracking functionality. A mobile application is also in preparation. Beyond animating avatars during video calls, the startup also wants to apply its technology to creating short and long videos.

The company's AI model can supposedly move any static avatar, but the startup is focused on NFTs.

Unsurprisingly, it has attracted a mix of crypto-native investors who provide financial or go-to-market support. Polychain Capital led the round, with participation from Nascent, Inflection, The Operating Group, Quantstamp, Neon DAO, Foothill Ventures and South Park Commons.

If you remember the name of one investor, it's probably Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda, who will be working with Hologram on his music project NFT Ziggurats. Other investors include Kalos, founder of Parallel NFT; Richard Ma, founder of Quantstamp; and Naveen Jain, founder of Yat Labs.

Hologram is already generating revenue by helping more than ten NFT collections turn their characters into dynamic avatars, including Cool Cats, Deadfellaz, and Crypto Covens. Ultimately, the company wants to reach consumers directly. For example, it could allow users to dress their NFT avatars in virtual branded clothing, a step closer to turning real assets into digital assets.