Videos with Virtual Humans, Made Easy:
Nikkei Innovation Lab Develops NewProduction SystemOctober 4, 2021 - Nikkei Innovation Lab, a research and development organization of Nikkei
Inc., has developed a system to produce videos using AI-generated images of people (known as⒤virtual humans⒥) in collaboration with DATAGRID Inc. The system is based on AI-generated
graphics depicting non-existent humans or real people. It gives users the ability to produce
their own videos with the freedom to specify exactly what they want to express.

The system can be used for a variety of purposes, such as news reporting and hosting online
events. Until now, video production has required extensive expenditures for purposes such as
securing performers, filming staff, and studio facilities. The new system makes it possible foranyone to create a simple yet sophisticated video at any time.

Examples of virtual humans automatically generated by AI.
This technology is different from the conventional technique of capturing images of people
and then using the results to create CG. Instead, it enables AI to learn about the characteristicsof human photographs and automatically generate more natural-looking depictions of people.

By combining lip-sync technology, which shapes the lips in a natural way based on inputtedvoice data, with technology that changes facial expressions, we have succeeded in developing
the ability to create realistic videos of virtual people. Lip-syncing in multiple languages ispossible, regardless of the language in which the voice data is inputted. Our technology
enables the deployment of diverse virtual humans of every race, age, gender, and linguistic
ability.

The older method of creating an image of a person from CG requires a specialist and a timeconsuming process. In contrast, our system is expected to greatly reduce costs. In the past, it
took from several to ten days to create a movie by shooting images of a person, conducting 3Dmodeling, and recording voices. With our system, however, it is possible to produce a video in asingle day.

This system also allows you to create your own videos based on real people by preparing
photos and videos. You can even replace only the face of a real person with that of a virtualhuman. In the future, it will also be possible to upload your own video and create a digitalavatar of yourself.

Nikkei Inc. obtained permission from about 160 young employees to use their facial images for
the AI process. It then created a virtual male and female exhibiting the characteristics of young
employees.

This system will be used within the Nikkei group. A video produced with this method waspublished in the Nikkei Online Edition, and the QR code leading to the video was posted in the"Nikkey's Big Question" column of the evening edition of the Nikkei on October 4.

About DATAGRID Inc.
DATAGRID Inc. is an AI startup that promotes research, development, and social
implementation of deep generative models (generative AI). It employs features such as a GAN(generative adversarial network), an advanced AI framework that is making its presence felt
around the world, with the mission of "co-creating products that blend AI with nature.⒥ Using
its AI assets, DATAGRID cooperates with partner companies in various industries to develop andcommercialize different types of products and services. DATAGRID⒢s digital human-related
technologies are attracting attention around the world with technology such as the "full-bodymodel automatic generation AI" announced in April 2019.
https://datagrid.co.jp/en/

Contact
Public Relations Office, Nikkei Inc.
pr@nex.nikkei.co.jp