Aju Business Daily

SEOUL -- Neon, an artificial human project launched by Samsung Electronics' research unit, secured a business partner in South Korea to provide an enterprise service model for the creation of new types of video content in media, education, retail and various other fields. Neon generates virtual avatars that look like real humans.

Samsung Technology & Advanced Research (STAR) Labs signed a memorandum of understanding with CJ Olivenetworks, a specialized ICT enterprise, to cooperate in a Neon project led by STAR Labs CEO Pranav Mistry, a human-computer interaction researcher.

With Neon, CJ Olivenetworks, a unit of South Korea's CJ Group, aims to proactively respond to fast-changing media content industries. The first area of cooperation will be the selection of a virtual influencer to create new types of content.

"With the innovative development of artificial intelligence, the artificial human sector is also growing rapidly," CJ Olivenetworks CEO Cha In-hyok said. "We will respond to visual content trends and new consumer needs by adding the IT capabilities of CJ Olive Networks to the Neon project and CJ Group's competitive edge in content production."

Neon users will interact with avatars that are intended to become companions and friends and act as concierges and receptionists in hotels, stores and restaurants. STAR Labs will use Neon for a workforce model that can provide new customer experiences in application, web and retail environments. To provide convenient financial services to customers, STAR Labs plans to sign a business agreement with financial companies.

Neon is based on a proprietary platform called Core R3, which stands for reality, realtime and responsive. Mistry said earlier that Core R3 animates realistic avatars designed to be used in movies, augmented reality experiences, and web and mobile apps. It autonomously creates new expressions and new movements completely different from originally captured data.

Another Neon element called Spectra will be responsible for the intelligence, learning, emotions and memory of Neon avatars that look more like videos than computer-generated characters.