Sam Witteveen · 2026-09-27 · notable
Sam Witteveen — 'Gemini Live Avatars'
Sam Witteveen's 27 September 2026 video tests Gemini 3.8 Live with Live Avatar, Google's real-time talking video persona, from the avatar studio to a Japanese lesson, a two-avatar debate and pricing.
Sam Witteveen puts Google's new Gemini Live avatars through a hands-on demo.
What is it?
'Gemini Live Avatars' went up on Sam Witteveen's channel on 27 September 2026, three days after Google Cloud made Gemini 3.8 Live with Live Avatar generally available. Live Avatar gives the Gemini 3.8 Live voice model an animated, lip-synced video face.
How does it work?
The video walks through Google's announcement, the general-availability news and the 97-language lip-sync support, then moves into the avatar studio. Sam talks with an avatar called Vera, has one teach him Japanese, and sets two avatars to debate each other before covering pricing.
Why does it matter?
A hands-on session shows how natural the avatar looks and how fast it responds in a live conversation, which a blog post cannot. That helps teams decide whether it is ready for support or tutoring agents. A companion video on his second channel walks through the code.
Who is it for?
developers building voice and video agents