MEET ERICA The android set to star in the sci-fi film, b
WE’VE USED AI CAMERAS IN ARENAS FOR HANDBALL, FLOORBALL, BASKETBALL AND ICE HOCKEY “So far, we’ve used AI cameras in arenas for handball, floorball, basketball and ice hockey, and these sports work well,” notes Thalbäck . “We don’t see any limitations with other sports going forward.” Andrews agrees, pointing out that Mobile Viewpoint ensured the system had been trained for less pitch-centric sports, including horse events, as well as velodrome cycling. According to Thalbäck, the pandemic has actually boosted Solidsport’s business overall, since the need for teams and clubs to find new revenue has increased. Features such as IQ TeamStream, which enables clubs to sell subscriptions and run in-stream ads, are proving popular. The demand for a good streaming solution for sports, regardless of level, has never been greater, says Thalbäck. “This trend has been going on for some years now ,” he points out. “The pandemic just sped it up by three to five years.”
AUTOMATONIC ACTORS
A Covid-hit Hollywood is exploring the possibility of using Coronavirus-immune, method-acting robots, after it was announced last year that an android named Erica will star in b, a new $70m sci-fi film, set to go into production next year. Erica is the creation of Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro and Professor Kohei Ogawa, scientists from Japan's Osaka University. The AI android has been trialled on many projects over the past five years, including work as a news anchor. Designed to resemble a young woman, the robot is now making its film debut in a live-action thriller about an experiment with human DNA that goes dramatically wrong. Erica is represented outside Japan by the Los Angeles-based, hi-tech entertainment company, Life Productions Inc. Its founder, Sam Khoze, hopes to build a robotic talent agency. According to Khoze, a producer on b , training was given to simulate the robot’s motions and emotions through one-on-one sessions, including controlling the speed of its movements, talking through feelings, and coaching character development and body language. “We also had to manipulate the autonomous algorithms she has for communication and train her to read dialogue without repeating the directions as well,” he explains. While Khoze claims that Erica is fully autonomous, he also doesn’t shy away from highlighting her limitations. While the AI android boasts impressive facial expressions, she requires so many connections to other devices that her mobility is limited.
In addition, conversations with more than one person prove tricky – even though Erica can track a second person in close proximity. “When you work with robots, you appreciate humans and our engineering even more. Just picking up an egg for a robot is a difficult task – it takes pages of calculations,” he admits. Khoze is currently in the process of onboarding other robots to star in the movie, including humanoid musical artist, Alter 3. Created by Ishiguro, along with Mixi Corporation, Alter 3 generates its own motion using neural networks. It has even sold out performances at concert halls with its impressive ability to sing along spontaneously and expressively with – as well as conduct – the orchestra, and is now represented by Life Productions. The new sci-fi film also aims to include a currently nameless creation that is being developed by Cambridge-based animatronic engineer, Jonny Poole. The AI is being created specifically for acting and Poole describes it, or her, as ‘the Tesla of robots.’ Made from materials designed by Nasa, it achieves motion, is life-sized and lightweight and has a huge number of activators – more than 600 – in its face. “This allows her to mimic human actions and expressions. Her eyes connect to her social media feed. And she sings if someone is playing guitar,” explains Poole. “The uniqueness of this project is that everyone wants to see how they play. Some of them might need a digital retouch for their emotional expressions – but no more than was used in other live-action features recently, such as The Irishman .” But given that even an all-singing, all-dancing robot isn’t capable of doing what a human can do, why not simply use an actor? Khoze is not convinced. He likens his vision to that adopted by early pioneers who researched physical effects and animatronics. “People are not excited by CG anymore – cinema needs something new,” he counters. “Hollywood has pushed the envelope with puppetry and animatronics – imagine what all these movies would look like if they were capable of adding sophisticated lifelike models that can harness AI and ML?”
UNLOCKING ARCHIVES Dan Carew-Jones, a post
production and workflow consultant at Arrow International, knew that AI and machine learning had potential, but it was only when Covid struck
ALTER 3 She uses her neural networks to generate motion
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