NC Reveals Digital Human for the First Time at GDC 2023

At GDC 2023, CCO Kim Taek-jin appeared as a 'digital human'.

NCSoft unveiled the trailer for its new title, ‘Project M,’ and digital human technology for the first time at the world’s largest game developers conference, ‘GDC 2023.’

On the 22nd (local time), NCSoft participated as a partner in Epic Games’ ‘State of Unreal’ event held at GDC. This event showcases new tools and technologies of the Unreal Engine in collaboration with partner companies. NCSoft’s CSO (Chief Strategy Officer) Yoon Song-yi took the stage to introduce ‘Project M.’

The trailer video for ‘Project M’ revealed that Kim Taek-jin, NCSoft’s CCO (Chief Creative Officer) who oversees game development, appears as a digital human. The digital human explains the worldview and play concept of ‘Project M.’

The digital human in the video was created by combining NCSoft’s artificial intelligence (AI) technology with visual technology capabilities such as art and graphics. All dialogue in the video was implemented using AI voice synthesis technology called ‘TTS.’ This technology generates natural speech appropriate to the situation by inputting text that contains a specific person’s voice, speech style, and emotions.

The digital human’s facial expressions and lip-sync animations utilized ‘Voice-to-Face’ technology. This AI technology automatically generates facial animations suitable for the situation when dialogue or voice is input. By combining AI technology with NCSoft’s visual technology, vivid facial expressions of the digital human were realized.

CSO Yoon Song-yi said, “‘Project M’ is a new title under development that consolidates NCSoft’s innovative AI and graphic technology capabilities. We are enhancing the completeness of ‘Project M’ by adding NCSoft’s AI technology to Unreal Engine 5.”

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said, “We are pleased that Unreal Engine 5 is actively used in the development of ‘Project M,’” and added, “The high-fidelity digital human created by NCSoft is very impressive.”

‘Project M’ is an interactive element-based action-adventure new title under development by NCSoft. It is a console platform game. The world of ‘Project M’ consists of information particles and can simulate temporary space and time, allowing the story to change and expand depending on the information acquired by the user.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.