It could only happen in NVIDIA Omniverse - the company's virtual world simulation and collaboration platform for 3D workflows.
And it happened during an interview with a virtual toy model of NVIDIA's CEO, Jensen Huang.
What are the greatest one of Toy Jensen's creators asked, stumbling, then stopping before completing his scripted question.
Unfazed, the tiny Toy Jensen paused for a moment, considering the answer carefully.
The greatest are those, Toy Jensen replied, who are kind to others.
Leading-edge computer graphics, physics simulation, a live CEO, and a supporting cast of AI-powered avatars came together to make NVIDIA's GTC keynote - delivered using Omniverse - possible.
Along the way, a little soul got into the mix, too.
The AI-driven comments, added to the keynote as a stinger, provided an unexpected peek at the depth of Omniverse's technology.
Omniverse is the hub in which all the various research domains converge and align and work in unison, says Kevin Margo, a member of NVIDIA's creative team who put the presentation together. Omniverse facilitates the convergence of all of them.
Toy Jensen's ad-lib capped a presentation that seamlessly mixed a real CEO with virtual and real environments as Huang took viewers on a tour of how NVIDIA technologies are weaving AI, graphics and robotics together with humans in real and virtual worlds.
Real CEO, Digital Kitchen While the CEO viewers saw was all real, the environment around him morphed as he spoke to support the story he was telling.
Viewers saw Huang deliver a keynote that seemed to begin, like so many during the global COVID pandemic, in Huang's kitchen.
Then, with a flourish, Huang's kitchen - modeled down to the screws holding its cabinets together - slid away from sight as Huang strolled toward a virtual recreation of Endeavor's gleaming lobby.
One of our goals is to find a way to elevate our keynote events, Margo says. We're always looking for those special moments when we can do something novel and fantastical, and that showcase NVIDIA's latest technological innovations.
It was the start of a visual journey that would take Huang from that lobby to Shannon's, a gathering spot inside Endeavor, through a holodeck, and a data center with stops inside a real robotics lab and the exterior of Endeavor.
Virtual environments such as Huang's kitchen were created by a team using familiar tools supported by Omniverse such as Autodesk Maya and 3ds Max, and Adobe Substance Painter.
Omniverse served to connect them all in real-time - so each team member could see changes made by colleagues using different tools simultaneously, accelerating their work.
That was critical, Margo says.
The virtual and the real came together quickly once live filming began.
A small on-site video team recorded Huang's speech in just four days, starting October 30, in a spare pair of conference rooms at NVIDIA's Silicon Valley headquarters.
Omniverse allowed NVIDIA's team to project the dynamic virtual environments their colleagues had created on a screen behind Huang.
As a result, the light spill onto Huang changed as the scene around him changed, better integrating him into the virtual environment.
And as Huang moved through the scene, or as the camera shifted, the environment changed around Huang.
As the camera moves, the perspective and parallax of the world on the video wall responds accordingly, Mago says.
And because Huang could see the environment projected on the screens around him, he was better able to navigate each scene.
At the Speed of Omniverse All of this accelerated the work of NVIDIA's production team, which had most of what they needed in-camera after each shot rather than adding elaborate digital sets in post-production.
As a result, the video team quickly created a presentation seamlessly blending a real CEO with virtual and real-world settings.
However, Omniverse was more than just a way to speed collaboration between creatives working with real and digital elements hustling to hit a deadline. It also served as the platform that knit the string of demos featured in the keynote together.
To help developers create intelligent, interactive agents with Omniverse that can see, speak, converse on a wide range of subjects and understand naturally spoken intent, Huang announced Omniverse Avatar.
Omniverse brings together a deep stack of technologies - from ray-tracing to recommender systems - that were mixed and matched throughout the keynote to drive a series of stunning demos.
In a demo that swiftly made headlines, Huang showed how Project Tokkio for Omniverse Avatar connects Metropolis computer vision, Riva speech AI, avatar animation and graphics into a real-time conversational AI robot - the Toy Jensen Omniverse Avatar.
The conversation between three of NVIDIA's engineers and a tiny toy model of Huang was more than just a technological tour de force, demonstrating expert, natural Q&A.
It showed how photorealistic modeling of Toy Jensen and his environment - right down to the glint on Toy Jensen's glasses as he moved his head - and NVIDIA's Riva speech synthesis technology powered by the Megatron 530B large language model could support natural, fluid conversations.
To create the demo, NVIDIA's creative team created the digital model in Maya Substance, and Omniverse did the rest.
None of it was manual, you just load up the animation assets and talk to it, he said.
Huang also showed a second demo of Project Tokkio, a customer-service avatar in a restaurant kiosk that was able to see, converse with and understand two customers.
Rather than relying on Megatron, however, this model relied on a model that integrated the restaurant's menu, allowing the avatar to smoothly guide customers through their op
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
18/05/2026
Despite a bumpy start to the year, the provider of event-production support and ...
18/05/2026
Daktronics has partnered with the University of North Carolina to manufacture and install 11 LED displays totaling more than 10,000 square feet and more than 14...
18/05/2026
CBS LA has announced a multi-year partnership with the Los Angeles Rams, covering exclusive local broadcasts of Rams preseason games, weekly year-round programm...
18/05/2026
Skyline Communications has announced an integration between its DataMiner xOps p...
18/05/2026
eCLUTCH, the hybrid esports platform powered by iKOMG, has announced an expansion of its distribution across Europe, MENA, Africa, and Asia, along with new cont...
18/05/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
18/05/2026
With 22 games this season, the production team looks forward to tweaking and enhancing the coverage
After 8,660 days off the air, the WNBA returned to NBC yest...
18/05/2026
(L-R) Midori Francis and Natalie Erika James attend the Saccharine premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 22, 2026, in ...
18/05/2026
Last night, the Spotify Podcast Awards in Mexico returned to the country's capital. Now in its second year, the evening honors creators whose voices are hel...
18/05/2026
ZEN-Core synth goes mobile
Roland's powerful ZEN-Core software synthesizer has just been introduced to the iPad, offering a convenient entry point into ...
18/05/2026
Versatile new limiter plug-in announced
Based in Sheffield, UK, fedDSP offer a range of plug-ins that span the music production, live sound and high-end med...
18/05/2026
A new use for convolution?
Viiri Audio's debut plug-in aims to do something a little different with convolution processing, allowing users to adjust all...
18/05/2026
Delta Goodrem shines for SBS as more than 3.27 million Australians tune in for E...
18/05/2026
The Australian Defence Force uses L3Harris T4 and T7 robots for explosive ordnan...
18/05/2026
Continued investment across Europe and Germany is expanding local teams and improving access to stock, regional expertise, and specialist broadcast support.
CV...
18/05/2026
18 May 2026
Dubai and New York, May 18, 2026 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a glob...
18/05/2026
Monday 18 May 2026
Sky News offers ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes for just...
18/05/2026
Comscore March 2026 Consumer AI Chatbot Usage Rankings Show Claude Gaining Share OpenAI's ChatGPT maintains lead while Anthropic's Claude continues to c...
17/05/2026
Delta Goodrem's Eurovision Eclipse marks end of a stellar run
17 May, 2026
Media releases
Bulgaria wins Eurovision 2026
Relive every spellbinding mome...
17/05/2026
Back to All News
Oasis Premieres on Netflix June 19
Entertainment
17 May 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Summer, sunshine, the beach, parties. T...
16/05/2026
Helps to deliver a clean, balanced midrange
Developed alongside Newfangled Audio, the latest plug-in in Eventide's software collection has been designed...
16/05/2026
Brings onboard stem rendering to RANE System One
Engine DJ have just released Engine DJ 5.0, a free update for their Engine DJ OS embedded hardware and Engi...
16/05/2026
Boris FX Continuum Pairs AI Precision and Advanced Creative Controls
Jessie Electa Petrov May 16, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic de...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Seattle Sounders FC and Seattle Reign FC, in partnership with RAVE Foundation an...
15/05/2026
Dan Brumm has served as sound designer on Bluey, the Australian children's t...
15/05/2026
The Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) and Shure Incorporated are accepting applications for the 6th annual Mark Brunner Professional Audio Schola...
15/05/2026
Netflix has announced an expanded NFL schedule for 2026 and beyond under a four-year partnership extension with the NFL through the 2029-30 season. Each season,...
15/05/2026
Ateme is supporting TVRI (Televisi Republik Indonesia) with a contribution and d...
15/05/2026
Concacaf has announced the launch of a new website and mobile app built on Deltatre's FORGE platform. Concacaf.com and the mobile app, available on iOS and ...
15/05/2026
Eutelsat has announced the launch of QBC Business Economic Channel by Qatar Media Corporation, broadcasting in 4K/UHD via Eutelsat's 7/8 West video neighbo...
15/05/2026
Major League Soccer has announced four original content series timed to the 2026...
15/05/2026
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has announced it will exhibit and present at InfoComm 2026, taking place June 13-19 at the Las Vegas Convention Cente...
15/05/2026
InfoComm 2026 will take place June 13-19 (exhibits June 17-19) at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The show will include sessions and exhibits covering broadcas...
15/05/2026
Tracy McGrady's Ones Basketball League (OBL) and FuboTV Inc. have announced ...
15/05/2026
Disguise has partnered with Creative Technology (CT) to deliver visual playback ...
15/05/2026
Sony Electronics has announced two new products for professional imaging: the Alpha 7R VI full-frame mirrorless camera and the FE 100-400mm F4.5 GM OSS super-te...
15/05/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
15/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
15/05/2026
For sports organizations, the most valuable assets are often the most sensitive:...
15/05/2026
The NFL's broadcast partners released their 2026 regular season schedules ye...
15/05/2026
Besides drawing on experience with boxing, the production integrates specialty c...
It could only happen in NVIDIA Omniverse - the company's virtual world simulation and collaboration platform for 3D workflows.
