NVIDIA Broadcast 1.4 adds eye contact and vignette effects with virtual background enhancements

NVIDIA Broadcast’s tool for livestreaming and video conferencing that turns your room into a home studio — is updating today with two exciting effects, Eye Contact and Vignette, drastic enhancements to Virtual Background and more.

Broadcast continues its strong momentum with double the active users from the previous year. And over 20 partners have integrated Broadcast effects directly into their apps. Broadcast is also preinstalled in select laptops from Acer, Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, Lenovo and Razer providing users superior, AI-powered experiences with their microphone, webcam and speakers.

The updated Virtual Background effects are also available directly in your favorite apps including OBS, Streamlabs and Elgato Camera Hub. Get the enhanced effects by updating to the latest version of the redistributables in the NVIDIA Broadcast Download Center.

Eye on the Prize – Introducing Eye Contact
The new Eye Contact effect moves the eyes of the speaker to simulate eye contact with the camera — achieved by estimating and aligning gaze. The eyes retain their natural color and blinks, and there’s even a disconnect feature in case you look too far away, to transition smoothly between simulated and real eyes.

Eye Contact is ideal for content creators seeking to record themselves while reading their notes or a script, or avoiding having to stare directly at the camera. Video conference presenters will look at the eyes of the person they’re speaking with, improving engagement with their audiences.

Currently in beta, we want to work with you, the community, to help improve Eye Contact. There are millions of eye colors and lighting combinations. If you test it and find any issues, or just want to help us develop this AI effect further, please send us a quick video here, we would really appreciate it!

Vignette, a Better Virtual Background, and More
A Vignette effect – similar to those seen in apps like Instagram – has been integrated into Broadcast. Combine it with a subtle Background Blur effect to get an AI-simulated bokeh visual on your webcam, instantly improving visual quality.

In addition, the Blur, Replacement, and Removal Virtual Background effects – have been enhanced with temporal information to achieve better segmentation and stability, enabling the AI to make better decisions. In cases where the network makes a mistake, you will not see parts of the background popping in and out as much.

Broadcast has also integrated two of the most popular community requested features: the option to mirror your camera, and to take a screenshot of your webcam! Check out the two new icons under the camera preview labeled Camera Mirroring and Selfies.

Want more features and effects? Continue to share your concerns, report bugs or make requests in the forums. Your feedback is incredibly valuable to the entire team, we can’t stress that enough.

Add Broadcast Effects to Your Native Apps
App developers can integrate the SDKs powering NVIDIA Broadcast – known as Maxine – into their apps, including the latest features. At CES 2023, NVIDIA Maxine announced SDK updates, including the new Eye Contact feature; improved performance and quality for Virtual Background; a Speaker Focus feature; will also be available as microservices; and opened early access to test out our latest feature: Live Portrait.

Take your livestreams, voice chats, and video conference calls to the next level with AI-enhanced voice and video with Broadcast. BCS Bureau