In recent years, the outbreak of a series of technologies including ChatGPT, virtual human, etc. has rekindled the confidence of the entire industry in the new technological revolution. Facing the oncoming "super trend", the mentality of many enterprises is "increasingly complicated": on the one hand, everyone yearns for the industrial opportunities brought by the trend; on the other hand, many exaggerated "technologies" have been repeatedly falsified, No one wants to be that "pig on the wind", and this kind of psychology is also reflected in people's attitude towards the virtual human industry.
In the eyes of many people, today's virtual human is just like the Internet in those days. It is still only in the category of "tools" and does not yet have the majestic power to subvert the industry. However, judging from various new internal and external conditions, the current industrialization and commercialization of virtual humans is entering a new historical stage.
The commercial value of virtual humans is increasingly prominent
In recent years, the concept of metaverse has become popular all over the world, and all kinds of virtual people have continuously entered people's field of vision. As early as 2021, Liu Yexi, a virtual beauty expert, released the first short video on Douyin, which quickly won more than 3 million likes and attracted continuous attention; The virtual human based on the prototype and the live singer Zhou Shen sang songs such as "Story of a Small Town" and "Walking on the Road of Life", realizing the same stage chorus across time and space; during the Beijing Winter Olympics, CCTV News jointly launched AI sign language virtual The anchor can accurately and timely broadcast the live broadcast of the event, and become a "smart" partner for the hearing-impaired group to listen to the news. Behind the fact that virtual human beings are more and more widely used in more fields, it is not unrelated to the maturity of the virtual human industry itself and the improvement of consumer recognition.
First of all, from a technical point of view, the conditions for the industrialization of virtual humans are mature. At present, the mainstream technology driving route of virtual human can be mainly divided into artificial intelligence driving and motion capture driving. At present, these two technical routes correspond to different application scenarios. For example, artificial intelligence-driven avatars are mainly used in scenarios such as news broadcasting, customer service, and explanations, while motion-capture avatars are suitable for highly interactive scenarios such as MCN agency marketing, live broadcast, and virtual anchors.
In addition, the current virtual human industry chain has also begun to mature, and has formed a complete ecological map of the virtual human industry chain composed of upstream production and rendering tools, midstream virtual human drive and operation, and downstream scene applications. Nowadays, with the blessing of virtual technology, big data, artificial intelligence and other technologies, virtual digital humans are constantly evolving, their images are becoming more and more realistic, their application range is wider and wider, and their commercial value continues to increase.
Secondly, users’ acceptance and recognition of virtual humans is gradually increasing. According to a survey of American consumers by the marketing agency "Influencer Marketing Factory", more than half of consumers follow at least one virtual influencer on social media, and 35% of consumers have purchased products promoted by virtual influencers. . According to data from iiMedia Consulting, in 2022, Chinese netizens will increase their understanding and attention to virtual humans, and their attention will rise from 63.6% in 2021 to 87.8% in 2022. It can be seen that with the maturity of virtual human technology, more and more people recognize the commercial value of virtual human.
'True' virtual humans are becoming reality
In fact, with the high recognition of the outside world, a group of more daring manufacturers are working hard to promote virtual humans to a broader application field. For example, Li Xinglan, the super-realistic virtual human produced by MMC studio, is no longer a simple game NPC, but a real virtual digital human. In addition to being able to guide players in the game, it can also vibrate, receive endorsements, act as a host, receive awards and watch shows outside the game. In Li Xinglan, the human soul, appearance and AI core are perfectly unified, which makes it completely different from the so-called "digital human" in the past.
And MMC studio is definitely not the first company in the industry to want to do this. As a "leader" in the field of virtual human, Mofa Technology put forward the concept of "3D virtual human" at the recent press conference, and clarified it into three characteristics: possessing 3D image, capable of interactive expression, and professional ability. Each of these requirements is aimed at two things: one is technical strength; the other is application scenarios.
From a technical point of view, such a virtual human has been completely driven by AI, and with the support of multiple technologies such as motion capture, its image and movement are infinitely close to people's real life. From the perspective of the industry, the so-called "virtual people" in the industry in the past were either special effects characters or virtual idols with images but made by hand; the other type was AI assistants driven by AIGC but without images. Count ChatGPT. According to the definition of Mofa Technology, 3D virtual human needs to "have an image and be generated by AIGC", which makes its ability different from that of previous virtual human.
First, it has achieved a breakthrough in technology, can realize large-scale replication, and has the basic conditions for industrialization. Secondly, its intelligent interaction is infinitely close to the human level, and the overall experience is completely different from the virtual human supported by previous lip-shape technology. It has achieved a complete "both form and spirit". These changes may reshape the virtual human industry from the bottom and have a new impact on various industries.
From the perspective of application scenarios, 3D virtual humans have cross-terminal application capabilities and can serve the public well in a wider range. 3D virtual people can provide services to users online 7*24 hours through various terminals such as existing mobile phones and computers, and we can experience face-to-face services like real people at any time. The scope of application of "person" has expanded from some industries to a wider field, and the virtual human industry may usher in drastic changes as a result.
Vision Pro as a new catalyst
It is worth noting that Apple's newly released Vision Pro has launched a 3D version of the FaceTime function and 3D video function, which means that the virtual human application will be applied in this so-called "revolutionary product". The development of the industry brings new catalysts.
First of all, the realization of the 3D video function has changed the original video generation method, thus bringing new changes to people's lives. In the past 2D video call era, people's chatting has not yet broken through the barriers between reality and virtuality. However, in the 3D video era, people can experience the fun of talking face-to-face with each other through 3D video calls. Its essence is to generate 3D models in real time through high-resolution sensors, dozens of depth-scanning sensors, and other displays. Then use the light field technology to directly display the three-dimensional content on the flat screen, allowing users to experience an immersive experience.
Due to the realization of this technology, 3D video can be further applied to more scenes. For example, users can use 3D video to record images of themselves getting along with their family and friends. When they miss their friends, they can use 3D images again to feel the details of getting along with each other personally. In the industrial field, the debugging of factory equipment may no longer require an expert to run back and forth again and again. He only needs to upload his debugging process to the head-mounted display device, and the factory can carry out the debugging work by itself, and workers can also use 3D images. See the whole process in its entirety. In addition, it can also be applied in the field of education, so that "teaching by precept and example" can truly become a reality.
Use 3D video to record a person's movements, voice and behavior, and then give enough 3D video to AI training, you may get a 3D version of the virtual person, so that the person who left can also exist in the form of a digital body again , communicate and express with us.
Secondly, the 3D Face Time virtual human opens up the virtual and real worlds again, and continues to elevate people's audio-visual experience to a whole new level. For example, users can use the head-mounted display device to enter the virtual world in the MR device. For example, the user can enter the world of dinosaurs as a virtual person, experience dinosaurs up close, and even touch dinosaurs and see their teeth. The function application that Apple gives to Vision Pro.
The ultra-immersive experience brought by such 3D images will inevitably bring new opportunities to the entire virtual human industry. Considering that in spatial computing, the 3D virtual human will act as an interactive medium, playing the same role as the "ID" in the mobile Internet, and its actual role will be even greater. And because virtual humans have external images and internal intelligence, they often have more functional utility, which means that in this new era created by Apple, virtual humans will play a more important role.
The "Great Navigation Era" of virtual humans has arrived?
Judging from the huge potential of virtual humans, the current application of 3D virtual humans is just the beginning. In the future, with the development of virtual reality, artificial intelligence, 5G applications, cloud and many other technologies, virtual humans may have reached a stage close to industrialization. of a new era.
First of all, with the continuous expansion of the application field of virtual humans, the continuous enrichment of business models, and the continuous enhancement of the industry's "blood-making ability", the entire industry is entering a stage of high-quality development. According to different types, the production cost of a virtual human ranges from hundreds of thousands to several million, and the production cycle ranges from 15 days to 3-4 months. The production cost of a super-realistic virtual human is relatively high, which may be as high as hundreds million. However, with the support of AIGC, the super-realistic virtual human can quickly generate IP images and liberate the clothing, expressions and movements of models, bringing great convenience to creators. The process of designing and shaping the character image, which used to take a lot of time and energy, can now be realized quickly with the help of AIGC virtual human, which greatly saves the creator's time and cost.
On the revenue side, virtual human manufacturers charge a one-time production fee for virtual digital humans and related scenes through modeling and rendering technologies; realize technology licensing fees through motion capture, facial capture and artificial intelligence technologies; platform, charging platform usage fees, etc., has become a proven and feasible business model in the virtual human industry. Overall, whether it is the decline in cost or the increase in income channels, it means that the commercialization channels for virtual humans are gradually opened up, and the problem of "insufficient commercialization" that plagued the industry in the past is gradually being resolved.
Secondly, as the value of virtual human digital assets becomes prominent, there are more and more new players, and industry companies are promoting the implementation of virtual human in the industry, and their imagination space is continuously expanding. From the earliest media and games, to the later finance, sports, education, and now gradually entering the industrial field, the industry territory of virtual humans is continuously expanding. On the supply side, in addition to early start-ups, industry leaders including Ali, Tencent, ByteDance, Baidu, etc. have all begun to make efforts in this field to promote the continuous progress of the virtual human industry. Therefore, it will improve the supply side of the virtual human industry even more.
With the continuous improvement of the virtual human environment in various links such as supply, demand, and commercial use, the virtual human industry will also usher in unprecedented dividends. For the players involved, a new wave of technology may have arrived.