4by4 Signs Virtual Human Realization Project Contract with Lotte Homeshopping

Visual tech solution company ForByFor announced on the 6th that it has signed a contract with Lotte Homeshopping for a Pixel AI-based virtual human realization project. This is part of a plan to further refine and naturalize the virtual human 'Lucy,' which ForByFor has been producing and operating with Lotte Homeshopping since 2021.

Lucy is implemented by training tens of thousands of data with deep learning AI and synthesizing it precisely with computer graphics. She is actively engaging with fans and conducting live commerce broadcasts in real time.

As the first step in 'making Lucy 100% automated,' they decided to develop a solution for synthesizing and transforming Lucy's natural voice and expressions that match her speech. This project is handled by the Pixel business division, which researches and develops ForByFor's proprietary video quality enhancement AI solution, Pixell.

The Pixel business division develops and applies an AI solution that naturally synthesizes and transforms expressions matching voice and speech based on the know-how accumulated during the development and enhancement of the video improvement AI Pixell. They expect to more precisely express and improve the 'lip-sync' and 'expressions that do not match words,' which can feel most awkward when a virtual human expresses voice, by utilizing the existing video enhancement AI.

Once Lucy's voice solution is developed, methods such as 'text-to-speech (TTS)' and 'real-time conversion of heard speech into Lucy's voice' will be possible. It is expected that Lucy's vocal identity can be consistently maintained in any situation.

Through the project, they plan to expand to the stage of implementing 'body movements' without a double model. By pre-recording numerous movements of Lucy using motion capture and having AI learn these movements, it will be possible to program actions suitable for any situation.

The ultimate goal of the virtual human realization project is a 'conversational virtual human' equipped with a ChatGPT-based conversational engine that can engage in natural conversations with humans.

ForByFor CEO Yoon Junho emphasized, "To prove value within the industry, each virtual human must produce unique content."

He added, "Since Lucy is a virtual human specialized in real-time broadcasting, interactive communication, and live commerce, we will expand her utilization by producing a wide variety of content quickly and diversely." He also explained, "If we maximize the quality of virtual human content by applying ForByFor's proprietary video quality enhancement AI solution Pixell, it will increase viewers' immersion in Lucy."

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