NTT Communications Corporation, Toei Company, Ltd. and NTT QONOQ, Inc. jointly announced the immediate launch of a customer-service demonstration using a digital human to communicate with people. In the demonstration, a realistic digital human, named CONN, will interact with people visiting NTT Com’s Open Hub Park2 virtual space. The results will be used to determine the possibility of using digital humans as new points of contact for commercial services.
CONN was developed from the faces of nine real people, or “catalysts,” who were scanned with the latest version of LightStage3 from Toei Zukun Laboratory, based on which a realistic human (digital human) was created using computer graphics.
For CONN’s personality, including behavior and voice, the motion-capture data and voice data of the catalysts were used to train an AI engine developed with NTT Human Informatics Laboratories, which reproduced the behavior and voice characteristics of real people in CONN.
Currently CONN is the 401st Catalyst. The name is derived from the word connect, which refers to a bridge between various people. According to NTT Com, CONN will be appearing at events, shows, company receptions, and clothing stores in the near future.
Early in March 2023, NTT Com, the ICT solutions and international communications business within the NTT group, launched of initiatives involving digital humans and the metaverse under its business co-creation programme, “Open Hub for Smart World,” with the aim of expanding opportunities for all people, including those with workplace or time challenges, and strengthening solutions to address issues such as Japan’s declining labour force. Open Hub, which was launched in October 2021, has been used by some 3,000 people in about 1,300 companies for business co-creation in real and remote environments.
Established in the metaverse, Open Hub Virtual Park utilizes a human-like digital catalyst generated by digital human technologies, including three-dimensional computer graphics (3DCG) and high-definition scanning and motion capture, to create a photorealistic human figure that responds to human visitors.
The three tech companies will use learnings from the demonstration to explore opportunities for using digital humans within their own companies and in solutions for customers in a wide range of industries and sectors, such as event/ showroom attendants, corporate receptionists, and clothing store clerks.
