Fully Offline! MNN TaoAvatar: Turn Your Phone into a Thinking 3D AI Avatar

Experience true on-device AI! The TaoAvatar app, developed by Alibaba’s MNN team, enables your Android phone to run a conversational, expressive, and reactive 3D virtual human—completely offline. This article explains how it works, the hardware you’ll need, and how to try it for yourself.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if your AI voice assistant—like Siri or Google Assistant—could work without the internet? A truly personal AI companion that lives only on your device, where every conversation stays private.

Sounds like science fiction, right? But the future just got a little closer. The MNN team at Alibaba has released an Android app called MNN TaoAvatar, which makes this dream a reality: a fully on-device 3D AI avatar.

Yes, you heard that right. From speech recognition and language understanding to voice synthesis and expressive facial animations—everything happens on your phone, in real time, without any internet connection.

So, What Exactly Is MNN TaoAvatar?

In short, MNN TaoAvatar is a tech demo app that turns the results of a cutting-edge AI research paper, TaoAvatar (arXiv:2503.17032v1), into something you can interact with on your own device.

Its main highlight? Everything runs locally. This means it packs an entire suite of advanced AI models directly onto your phone, including:

• Large Language Model (LLM): The “brain” that understands your input and generates logical replies.
• Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR): The “ears” that instantly convert your spoken words into text.
• Text-to-Speech (TTS): The “vocal cords” that convert AI-generated replies into natural speech.
• Audio-to-Behavior Synthesis (A2BS): Perhaps the coolest part—it generates matching facial expressions and lip movements based on voice tone and rhythm.
• Neural Network Rendering (NNR): The “makeup artist” that renders an expressive 3D avatar in real time.

You might be wondering: “Does it really work without the internet?” The answer is yes—100% offline. Not only is this a technical milestone, but it also ensures your conversations remain private.

How Does It Work? A Closer Look

When you speak to the app, a series of remarkable events unfold in milliseconds. Think of it like a well-coordinated team in action:

1. You speak: The ASR model (“ears”) converts your voice into text.
2. AI thinks: The LLM model (“brain”) analyzes the text and determines a response.
3. Response is generated: The LLM output goes to the TTS model (“vocal cords”) to become speech.
4. It comes to life: While the TTS model speaks, the A2BS model analyzes the audio to generate matching facial expressions and mouth movements.
5. You see it happen: Finally, the NNR model renders everything as a lively 3D avatar, right on your screen.

This process is highly complex, but MNN TaoAvatar makes it all run smoothly on your mobile device.

Can My Phone Handle This? Hardware Requirements

Excited to try it? Hold on—this app demands serious horsepower to run all those models in real time.

Here’s what the developers recommend:

Minimum Requirements:

• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 or equivalent flagship chip (e.g., MediaTek Dimensity 9200 series)
• RAM: At least 8 GB
• Storage: 5 GB of free space for AI model files
• Architecture: ARM64

Why such high specs?
Imagine running a heavy 3D game while doing real-time translation and video editing all at once. If your phone isn’t powerful enough, you may experience choppy audio, laggy visuals, or broken functionality.

Ready to Try It? Here’s How

If you own a high-performance “beast” of a phone, you have two ways to experience TaoAvatar:

For Everyone: Easy APK Download

This is the simplest method. The developers have bundled everything into an APK file—just download and install.

• Download here: mnn_avatar_0_0_1.apk
• Version: 0.0.1 (first public release)

Once installed, you can start chatting with your on-device 3D AI avatar!

For Developers: Dive Into the Source Code

If you’re a developer and want to dig deeper, you can compile the app from source via GitHub.

1. Clone the MNN repository:

   git clone https://github.com/alibaba/MNN.git
   

2. Navigate to the TaoAvatar project:

   cd MNN/apps/Android/Mnn3dAvatar
   

3. Open the project in Android Studio and click Run.

Looking Ahead

This is just the beginning. MNN TaoAvatar is still in its early stages, but it showcases the future of personalized AI—more private, more responsive, and more interactive.

The team has also mentioned that an iOS version is coming soon, so Apple users can look forward to joining the fun. If you encounter any bugs or have suggestions, visit the MNN GitHub Issues page to contribute.

In summary, MNN TaoAvatar isn’t just a fun app—it’s an invitation from the future, offering a glimpse into the incredible potential of on-device AI.