China News Agency, Hefei, May 19th: Virtual Humans Become Popular "Generation Z": In the Future, Virtual Humans Understand Emotions and Have Warmth
China News Agency reporter Zhang Jun
Playful and cute virtual human images, smooth and natural body movements, gentle and intimate voice interaction... Recently, virtual idols, virtual anchors and other virtual people have become popular on the Internet, especially among "Gen Z".
Wang Dianshi, born in 1997, is an animation enthusiast. From the first generation of virtual idols Hatsune Miku and Luo Tianyi, to the virtual person "Bingbing" and the virtual student "Hua Zhibing", he has been paying attention.
In Wang Dianshi's view, compared to cartoon characters, virtual people are closer to real people in terms of image and character, especially the interactive communication function makes him feel novel.
At iFLYTEK Co., Ltd., the national new-generation artificial intelligence open innovation platform, He Shan, director of virtual image technology research, is developing a new generation of artificial intelligence virtual human with his colleagues.
Looking back at the origin of virtual human, He Shan believes that the foundation of virtual human is the earliest computer graphics. From the beginning of computer display graphics, human beings have germinated the imagination of virtual human.
Since then, with the development of film and television animation, the image of virtual human appeared.
But for people in the industry, a virtual human needs to have three characteristics, including the appearance, behavior and thought of a person, the ability to express language, facial expressions and body movements, and the ability to recognize the external environment and communicate with people.
According to He Shan, from a technical point of view, different scenarios have different virtual human-driven solutions, mainly including artificial intelligence algorithms, real-life motion capture and other solutions.
Taking artificial intelligence virtual human as an example, its research and development has three major difficulties, namely perception ability, expression ability and cognitive ability.
"The research and development of virtual human is not only the construction of external image, but also the key is to give it a 'soul'." He Shan said that at present, the development of virtual human is in a stage of rapid development.
Why do virtual people become popular on the Internet?
Young director Qi Zhenhao has been engaged in the virtual reality industry for 10 years. He believes that virtual people are endowed with unique images and character characteristics when they are created. important reasons.
"The popularity of virtual humans is inseparable from technological breakthroughs, user needs and the development of the digital economy." Gao Jingwen, general manager of iFLYTEK's audio platform, is engaged in the operation of the virtual human platform.
She believes that the improvement of software and hardware such as artificial intelligence, virtual engine, and motion facial capture provides the foundation for the development of virtual humans. Young people represented by "Generation Z" have increased demand for visual experience, animation culture, corporate marketing, and metaverse. The rise of the virtual human has become the focus.
Gao Jingwen said that virtual humans can help humans perform repetitive work and labor, such as robots for medical guidance in hospitals and virtual anchors of news; virtual humans can become objects of human emotional communication, such as robots that accompany children; on the Internet, A virtual person can also become a manifestation of the self, creating a "digital avatar" in the "metaverse".
At present, virtual humans have applications in finance, education, medical care, government and enterprises, cultural tourism, entertainment, office and other scenarios, including virtual customer service, virtual teachers, digital employees, etc.
"With the advancement of artificial intelligence and other technologies, the image and interaction of virtual humans in the future will be more realistic and natural, and emotional expression will be richer and more delicate, and will also meet the needs of personalized customization." Gao Jingwen said that the future virtual human should be It is cute and smart, it understands emotions, has warmth, and can help human beings in work and life.
This is not only the future of virtual humans, but also the vision of artificial intelligence.
(Finish)