NVIDIA ACE provides a suite of generative AI technologies and microservices for creating digital humans, targeting game developers and customer service applications. It enables real-time speech recognition, translation, text-to-speech, and facial animation, aiming to deliver high-quality, responsive AI-powered experiences.

How It Works

ACE leverages NVIDIA's state-of-the-art, pre-trained AI models packaged as microservices (NIMs). These NIMs handle specific tasks like speech-to-text (Riva ASR), text-to-speech (Riva TTS), and audio-driven facial animation (Audio2Face). The system emphasizes responsible AI with commercially safe data and fine-tuning capabilities for consistent, on-topic results. Deployment is flexible across cloud, PC, or hybrid environments.

Quick Start & Requirements

• ACE NIMs are available via an evaluation license of NVIDIA AI Enterprise (NVAIE) through NGC.
• Specific microservices like Riva, Audio2Face, and Maxine Live Portrait require NVAIE.
• The repository contains samples and reference applications, with documentation for setup including NVIDIA Docker and Kubernetes.
• Links to documentation and tutorials are provided for various components and example workflows.

Highlighted Details

• Offers industry-leading model quality and real-time performance.
• Ensures safe and consistent results through responsible data sourcing and fine-tuning.
• Supports flexible deployment across public/private clouds and Windows PCs.
• Includes reference workflows for gaming (e.g., Audio2Face with Unreal Engine) and customer service (e.g., Tokkio digital assistant).

Maintenance & Community

• The project is maintained by NVIDIA.
• Specific community channels (Discord/Slack) or roadmaps are not explicitly detailed in the README.

Licensing & Compatibility

• The GitHub repository is licensed under Apache 2.0.
• ACE NIMs and NGC Microservices are subject to the NVIDIA AI Product License, which may have evaluation or commercial use restrictions.

Limitations & Caveats

• Many core ACE microservices require an NVIDIA AI Enterprise evaluation license, limiting immediate free use.
• Some features, like Windows deployment for Riva TTS and Audio2Face, are listed as "Coming Soon."
• The README indicates "Early Access Evaluation" for Maxine Speech Live Portrait and Nemotron-3 4.5B SLM, suggesting potential instability or limited availability.