Synthetic-based humans: a solution to talent shortages or threat to skilled jobs?

 One of the eight IBC Accelerator projects in 2023 looked at ‘synthetic humans.’ A synthetic human differs from a traditional CGI animated character in that they are intended to function in real-time in response to a variety of data inputs. They can take several different forms, from a simple text-based chatbot to fully synthesised voices and video personas. For example, the two demos from the Accelerator project brought an historical figure, the opera singer Maria Calas, back to ‘virtual’ life and used voice synthesis to vocalise what a presenter was communicating using British sign language.

Michael Davey, Founder and Technologist at Michael Davey Consulting, was project lead on the second workstream looking at presenting weather forecasts in British Sign Language. Discussing industry developments in the area since the project concluded, he says: “The last six months have been marked in the industry with ongoing exploration into making digital humans more relatable and realistic through better understanding of human actions, enabling more intuitive editing of images and videos, and animating fictional characters in innovative ways. This includes efforts to replicate human body language, micro-gestures, facial expressions, and verbal communication, aiming for digital humans to be central in storytelling and creative processes.”...