Here’s the world’s first 3D news anchor powered by AI.

Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency, has launched a 3D AI news anchor named Xin Xiaowei, a lookalike of Zhao Wanwei, a real-life, human news presenter at the agency. (TNW)

The 3D AI avatar is the latest in a series of Chinese virtual news presenters.

Xin Xiaowei – an  AI double

Xin can mimic human voices and gestures and has been jointly developed by Xinhua and search engine Sogou of Sogou Inc. (NYSE: SOGO).

“Multi-modal recognition and synthesis, facial recognition and animation and transfer learning,” are the AI planks on which the virtual newsreader works, according to Sogou.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1263385515862065152

Reading from text Xin can reproduce human voices, facial expressions, lip movements, and mannerisms.

Xin’s predecessors include Qiu Hao, a digital anchor launched in 2018, which ran on machine learning. It could duplicate the voices, expressions, and gestures of human anchors.

In 2019, Xinhua and ITAR-TASS, the Russian news agency, jointly developed a Russian version of Qiu. This version was launched on the 70^th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Russia.

Sogou technology

Xin is the first virtual anchor to be presented in 3D. The 3D AI News Anchor can walk around the studio during a broadcast and can perform complex gestures.

It features the latest generation of the Sogou AI Vocational Avatar technology. The technology employs 3D modeling and cutting-edge AI technologies to create true-to-life avatars of human beings.

According to a statement, Sogou brought “together 3D and AI, which enables the avatar to be more flexible and adaptive to different settings, creating a seamless experience for viewers.”

Further, it applied “cutting-edge algorithms and hi-fidelity 3D technologies used in movie productions to create the 3D avatar.”

Xin’s first show

Xin Xiaowei will go on air for the first time for Xinhua News Agency and cover the Two Sessions, China’s largest annual legislative meetings.

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