On Dec. 16, 2019 (Monday), startup company STAR Labs began posting GIFs teasing something called "Neon," a project which they would later reveal as an "artificial human." In a series of tweets, the Samsung subsidiary announced that Neon would be unveiled at the CES 2020, and debunked many people's theory that the project is related in any way to Bixby, the tech giant's designated virtual assistant.
Several media outlets, as well as Neon's followers, were quick to throw wild guesses as to what the product might be. For The Verge, the project could be a "digital avatar technology" or "a realistic CGI human that users can interact with." One of the most interesting speculations came from a Twitter user who described Neon as "artificial intelligence that will make you wonder which one of you is real." But what exactly is an artificial human?
What Are Neon's Capabilities?
After weeks of building hype around their futuristic-looking product, Neon's project lead and human-computer interaction researcher Pranav Mistry tweeted on Jan. 4 (Saturday) that they're ready to demonstrate the CORE R3 at CES 2020. Core R3 is the technology behind the brand's "digital humans" and stands for reality, real-time, and responsive.
Flying to CES tomorrow, and the code is finally working :) Ready to demo CORE R3. It can now autonomously create new expressions, new movements, new dialog (even in Hindi), completely different from the original captured data. pic.twitter.com/EPAJJrLyjd — Pranav Mistry (@pranavmistry) January 5, 2020
Days before its official unveiling at CES, leaked videos taken from the source code of Neon's website made the rounds on social media, starting on Reddit. Although the Reddit post has since been taken down, the clips can still be found on YouTube.
The leaked video had the followers of the mysterious venture wondering: sure, it looks incredibly lifelike and realistic, far from the computer-generated graphics that we're all used to seeing, even. But to what extent can these artificial humans function like real humans? Can it talk or walk like the rest of us? What are its main purposes? What makes it different from China's AI news anchor, Star Wars' CGI-generated dead actors, or Deepak Chopra's digital clone? Does it have emotions?
Mistry, the former Samsung Electronics' Senior Vice President and who is now the CEO and president of STAR Labs (which basically stands for Samsung Technology and Advanced Research Labs), dropped hints about their "digital human" venture in a recent interview with LiveMint.
"Movies are full of examples where AI is brought into our world," he explained. "In Blade Runner 2049, Officer K develops a relationship with his AI hologram companion, Joi. While films may disrupt our sense of reality, 'virtual humans' or 'digital humans' will be a reality. A digital human could extend its role to become a part of our everyday lives: a virtual news anchor, virtual receptionist, or even an AI-generated film star."
Although his statements revealed very few official details about the project, one thing is for certain: artificial intelligence will be an integral part of the new decade. For updates about the official unveiling of Samsung's artificial human project at CES 2020, check back later on TechTimes.
RELATED LINK: One UI 2.0: The Best Things About the New Samsung Galaxy S10 and Note10 Devices
