Is the emergence of virtual humans a novelty or a revolution?

Recently, a unique real estate press conference kicked off in the Yuanverse.

At 8 pm on August 26th, Beijing City Construction was held in Baidu Xirang (Baidu’s Yuanverse app) This press conference broke the traditional format of the past and used Metaverse live broadcast to set up scenes using Metaverse technology. There is a huge floating auditorium and gorgeous lights at the scene, just like a grand concert.

It is worth noting that this is also the first domestic real estate project Yuanverse press conference. At the Metaverse site, there were tens of thousands of digital virtual human audiences and the AI ​​digital virtual human "Xi Jiajia" had a "cross-dimensional" interaction with Li Zhaoyan, chairman of Beijing Urban Construction.

The organizer broke the traditional celebrity endorsement and other methods in the past, and aimed at the metaverse that is at the forefront. In the silent real estate market, through the novel method of digital virtual humans , attracted the attention of many people.

With the popularity of the concept of the metaverse, AI virtual humans have become one of the hot topics of discussion. Whether they are virtual anchors, virtual idols or virtual game characters, more and more AI virtual people are appearing around us and seem to have become a part of our lives.

Why have digital virtual humans, which have already appeared, only developed now?

Digital virtual human refers to an image that is similar to a real person created by people based on a unique algorithm on a computer. Its system consists of character image, voice generation, animation generation, and audio and video synthesis. It is composed of five sections: display and interaction, combined with AI artificial intelligence, to finally show human behavior.

Different from physical robots, digital virtual humans rely on display devices to exist and can be applied to various scenarios.

The origin of virtual people can be traced back to the 1980s, the heroine Lin Mingmei of the Japanese classic cartoon "Macross", Lin Mingmei is the beginning of virtual idols , the animation company released a record in her virtual image, and the virtual person entered the real world for the first time.

After 2000, virtual humans finally got rid of the limitations of traditional hand-painting, and the first generation of 3D virtual human idols began to appear.

Gulu also appeared in the 2001 movie "Lord of the Rings" as the first famous virtual person in the film industry. It can be said that Gollum was a sensation in the film industry at that time.

In 2008, the masterpiece "Avatar" raised virtual humans to a new level, which is still difficult to surpass: the entire performance was completed using motion capture technology, and CG technology created the entire virtual world.

After 2016, with the popularization of applications brought about by technological breakthroughs, virtual anchors and virtual idols appeared. At this stage, AI capabilities have also begun to be applied to virtual humans, mainly reflected in the combination of AI voice capabilities and virtual human service images, such as the AI ​​hosts launched by Sogou and Xinhua News Agency in 2018, and the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and Baidu in 2019 The collaboratively developed digital employee "Oura" and more.

In 2021, affected by the epidemic, many film, television, animation, and game companies are facing layoffs or even bankruptcy. As Facebook changed its name to Meta, the concept of the metaverse became popular around the world, and the virtual human market ushered in another rapid growth, which also allowed these companies to see opportunities.

Liu Yexi gained one million followers in one day, and Station B’s virtual anchor’s live broadcast reward revenue increased by more than 100%...

According to incomplete statistics, throughout 2021, there were approximately 16 virtual human-related investments in the domestic primary market, with financing amounts ranging from millions of yuan to tens of millions of dollars. The number of new virtual human-related companies exceeded 60,000 households. In the first month of 2022, nearly 100 financings in the virtual human field have accumulated more than 400 million yuan. Sutu Yuanverse Research Institute predicts that by 2025, the number of domestic virtual human-related companies will exceed 400,000.

Application scenarios of digital virtual humans

Nowadays, as the popularity of web3 continues to rise, digital virtual humans have developed rapidly and expanded. There are many unexpected application scenarios.

1. Virtual Idol

#The virtual singer Hatsune Miku, whose popularity continued to explode in 2007, is the world’s most popular virtual idol. The first virtual idol to use holographic projection technology to hold a concert. After that, Luo Tianyi, the first virtual singer in China, debuted in 2012.

Chen Rui, chairman of Station B, once revealed at the 12th anniversary celebration that a total of 32,412 virtual anchors started broadcasting at Station B in the past year. The key to the popularity of this type of virtual anchor is the two-dimensional cultural market.

Virtual idol IP earns revenue through derivative peripherals, fan support and performance advertisements. The work content is almost the same as that of celebrities. This is also the earliest application scenario for virtual people to appear in the public eye. business model.

2. Digital clones

The essence of digital clones is to use the celebrity’s traffic, and the application scenarios are also There are many kinds.

Like the host's clone, in the 2019 Online Spring Festival Gala, four virtual hosts "Xiao Xiaosa", "Zhu Xiaoxun", "Gao Xiaobo" and "Long Xiaoyang" appeared on the stage. Corresponding to 4 real hosts.

Behind these virtual hosts, there are more than 20 patented technologies. Creating a virtual person is not complicated in operation. You only need to scan the face of the host and record half of it. Hours of voice data. After having the voice data, the virtual person can use the recorded voice to read out any input text and be proficient in four languages.

Such as the star digital person, the digital person "Teresa Teng" who sang with Zhou Shen; the digital person "Gong Jun" who endorses Baidu AI Explorer.

This is also the product of the combination of artificial intelligence and virtual humans. AI technology is used to replace the "human in the middle" behind it. ", more stable and controllable, and the cost will be lower.

3. Video blogger

On October 31, 2021, on Douyin, a person named Liu Yexi's IP released the first video. In the video, it was difficult to tell whether Liu Yeshi was a real person or a digital virtual person. The special effects were so full that it triggered heated discussions such as "Is Liu Yeshi a real person?"

This video alone was on the hot search, and it received more than 3 million likes in a short period of time. At the same time Gained millions of followers.

Liu Yexi’s image is almost the same as the real person, with clear and exquisite facial features. The team behind it, Chuangyi Technology, said it has been building this IP for 8 months, and will build it even more in the future. A series of virtual people, and Liu Yexi is just a character in the Metaverse Matrix IP envisioned by the team, and envisions becoming Marvel in the Metaverse world within three years.

At present, this type of operating model is like some video bloggers who gain income by cooperating with others, but the subsequent development model may not be limited to this.

#4. Virtual anchor

#It is said that the end of the universe is live streaming. Now on all major platforms, Virtual anchors have appeared, such as virtual human video bloggers such as "I don't eat for free". After accumulating a certain number of fans, they start live broadcasts to bring goods.

Taobao's smart live broadcast room is an intelligent product that uses smart technology to drive virtual images for automated broadcasting and personalized recommendations. You can realize 7*24 unmanned live broadcast by pinching your face and changing clothes, choosing a suitable voice, and generating scripts with one click.

Summary

The emergence of digital virtual humans brings not only convenience, but also changes in an era.

In the future, the customization of virtual humans will develop in a more efficient direction. They can save resources and replace people's existing work more efficiently. Technology will eventually return to reality, allowing virtual characters with different styles and uses to benefit people. ​

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