Pinscreen, Inc.

Pinscreen, Inc. is an American technology and visual effects company specializing in AI-generated technologies for films and television productions. The company has created visual effects and animations for Hollywood films and television commercials. It is known for creating the most advanced and photorealistic AI-driven virtual avatars. Notable customers include Netflix, Miramax, Amazon Studios, Apple, Google, Adobe, Warner Bros., and DARPA.
==History==
Pinscreen, Inc. was founded in September 2015 by USC professor Hao Li. Hao Li is a Chinese-born German computer scientist and innovator known for his work in real-time facial performance capture, shape registration, and human digitization. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.
Pinscreen is a software provider for AI-driven digital humans for virtual assistants, e-commerce, and entertainment. The company employs several well-known computer graphics researchers and publishes at top scientific venues. Most notably, it developed the first technology that can generate photorealistic virtual humans, including hair, from a single input photograph.
Pinscreen, Inc.’s deep learning-based technology for photo-realistic face synthesis was developed around the same time as deepfakes emerged in 2017, but is real-time and even more accessible since only one picture is needed. Pinscreen received wide media coverage due to the potential misuse of such technology if applied to face manipulations in videos. The company has been active in raising public awareness about the dangers of deepfake-related technologies, and it has presented at events such as the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2020 in Davos and SIGGRAPH 2020, highlighting state-of-the-art video manipulation capabilities.
Pinscreen is also the first to showcase AI lip sync for a feature film, and it is adept at processing thousands of 4K HDR movie shots in a year. It is part of the NVIDIA Inception Program. 
In 2024, Pinscreen, Inc. expanded its presence with a branch in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
==Products and services==
The company offers generative AI solutions for visual effects and interactive experiences for film and television productions. It offers AI lip sync, face reenactment, face swaps, de-aging, deepfakes, and avatar digitization services. 
The Pinscree, Inc. app is available for download through the Apple Store. The app allows users to upload a picture and generate an avatar by personalizing its body shape, accessories, and clothes. Users can download and use the created avatars in various contexts, like fashion, games, AR, and VR. Pinscreen, Inc. also offers a face tracker for facial tracking and retargeting solutions. 
==Funding==
Pinscreen, Inc. has raised a total of $3.8 million over two rounds held in 2016 and 2017. Notable investors include Softbank Ventures Asia, Colopl Next, and Lux Capital. 
==Awards and recognitions==
* Pinscreen, Inc. won the Epic MegaGrants in 2020.
* The company has been selected as one of the best Los Angeles companies and startups in 2021 by BestStartups.us.
* Pinscreen, Inc. was listed as one of the top 10 virtual reality companies in Los Angeles in 2021 by Welp Magazine.
== External Links ==
* Pinscreen Inc. on Facebook
* Pinscreen Inc.on Linkedin
* Pinscreen Inc.on Twitter
* Pinscreen Inc.on Instagram
* Pinscreen Inc’s Youtube channel
== References ==
Category:Computer vision
Category:Artificial intelligence
Category:Artificial intelligence applications
Category:Virtual avatars
Category:Companies based in Los Angeles
Category:Technology companies based in California