Luka Dončić has been turned into a MetaHuman

NBA star Luka Dončić is launching a digital alter ego created using Epic Games’ remarkable MetaHuman technology.

This is some seriously lifelike stuff — check out the pictures below. If I didn’t already know they were showing digital versions of Dončić, I honestly might not have been able to tell.

The virtual Dončić was built using Epic’s Unreal Engine 5 MetaHuman tech and “augmented with neural network technologies trained with real-world facial animations from Luka’s performance capture,” according to a press release. The alter ego, dubbed Luk.AI, will be taking over Dončić’s TikTok on Thursday, where he’ll be doing things like Dueting with other creators and — the press release actually says this — developing “his own personality inspired by things discovered on his FYP.” Fingers crossed the digital Dončić doesn’t go down a bad rabbit hole or start to say some strange things about its creators.

Epic introduced its MetaHuman tool last year, and it was extremely impressive even then. This digital version of Dončić is a prime example of what’s possible. Unity, which offers a suite of development tools that compete with Epic’s Unreal Engine, is also investing in new tech that creates lifelike digital humans.