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The University of Leeds is working on an artificial intelligence project that tracks the audio and visual movements of TV characters in order to digitally breathe new life into them, Quartz reports.
While the project’s end results are currently far from perfect, the ability to reanimate TV characters – and effectively recreate human personalities – has far-reaching implications. In particular, the domains of video content creation and, perhaps more importantly, the world of smart-assistant AIs could benefit.
Here’s how the Leeds team’s project for capturing, re-captioning, recreating audio and visuals works:
Powered by AI. The Leeds team uses a series of algorithms to isolate and analyze a TV character’s voice, body language, and facial expressions. Meanwhile, they apply machine learning to peruse the show’s script and dialogue, to learn how characters’ speak. The algorithms then apply this data to reanimate and vocalize a character’s interactions.
Starting with Friends. The first so-called "immortal character" that the Leeds team is working on is Joey from the hit comedy sitcom Friends. The algorithm is trained on over 200 episodes of the show, totaling 4,400 hours of video and thousands of pages of script. Moving forward, the research could be applied to any range of video content, from TV shows to film to unscripted reality.
A crude proof-of-concept. For now, the short videos generated by the Leeds algorithm are unrefined and rudimentary compared to the original clip. But the team is working on making these artificially-created videos virtually indistinguishable from the original. The end result will gradually become closer-to-form as the algorithm ingests more data and increases in sophistication.
There are big implications for this kind of research, particularly around content creation and AI-powered assistants:
Creating new video from archives. The Leeds project resembles a study from Stanford that uses AI to manipulate images of a person’s lip movements in real-time. This kind of technology can be used to stage a speech or manufacture some other kind video scene. In the future, we could see a new Friends episode appear every week ad infinitum thanks to the power of the Leeds algorithms.
Personalizing virtual assistants. The Stanford study uses algorithms to manipulate a person's facial expressions, but the Leeds project goes a step further in its aim to preserve and reanimate the range of a character’s personality. This has direct implications for AI-powered virtual assistants. The Leeds researchers themselves noted that personalities reincarnated through their algorithms could eventually be layered onto iPhone’s Siri or Amazon Echo’s Alexa.
Over the last few years, there’s been much talk about the “death of TV.” However, television is not dying so much as it's evolving: extending beyond the traditional television screen and broadening to include programming from new sources accessed in new ways.
It's strikingly evident that more consumers are shifting their media time away from live TV, while opting for services that allow them to watch what they want, when they want. Indeed, we are seeing a migration toward original digital video such as YouTube Originals, SVOD services such as Netflix, and live streaming on social platforms.
However, not all is lost for legacy media companies. Amid this rapidly shifting TV landscape, traditional media companies are making moves across a number of different fronts — trying out new distribution channels, creating new types of programming aimed at a mobile-first audience, and partnering with innovate digital media companies. In addition, cable providers have begun offering alternatives for consumers who may no longer be willing to pay for a full TV package.
Dylan Mortensen, senior research analyst for BI Intelligence, has compiled a detailed report on the future of TV that looks at how TV viewer, subscriber, and advertising trends are shifting, and where and what audiences are watching as they turn away from traditional TV.
Here are some key points from the report:
Increased competition from digital services like Netflix and Hulu as well as new hardware to access content are shifting consumers' attention away from live TV programming.
Across the board, the numbers for live TV are bad. US adults are watching traditional TV on average 18 minutes fewer per day versus two years ago, a drop of 6%. In keeping with this, cable subscriptions are down, and TV ad revenue is stagnant.
People are consuming more media content than ever before, but how they're doing so is changing. Half of US TV households now subscribe to SVOD services, like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu, and viewing of original digital video content is on the rise.
Legacy TV companies are recognizing these shifts and beginning to pivot their business models to keep pace with the changes. They are launching branded apps and sites to move their programming beyond the TV glass, distributing on social platforms to reach massive, young audiences, and forming partnerships with digital media brands to create new content.
The TV ad industry is also taking a cue from digital. Programmatic TV ad buying represented just 4% (or $2.5 billion) of US TV ad budgets in 2015 but is expected to grow to 17% ($10 billion) by 2019. Meanwhile, networks are also developing branded TV content, similar to publishers' push into sponsored content.
In full, the report:
Outlines the shift in consumer viewing habits, specifically the younger generation.
Explores the rise of subscription streaming services and the importance of original digital video content.
Breaks down ways in which legacy media companies are shifting their content and advertising strategies.
And Discusses new technology that will more effectively measure audiences across screens and platforms.
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