CIO

Soul Machines launches Digital DNA

Says technology will make it easy to produce highly realistic digital humans in minutes

We understand that it can be complex to deploy a digital human but no company should settle for less than perfection because their customers will not buy it or engage with it

Greg Cross, Soul Machines

Soul Machines says over the past four years, it has been capturing the Digital DNA - which includes intelligence and physical characteristics - from each digital human it has created to construct a virtual gene pool.

This gene pool is used to synthesise new digital humans by blending Digital DNA together.

This Digital DNA allows organisations to create a completely new digital human in minutes versus the months it previously took.

“We are proud to be making this technology available to companies so they can supercharge their online customer experiences in a high-quality way in a short amount of time,” says Greg Cross, chief business officer at Soul Machines.  

Soul Machines has built digital humans for some major brands across the globe including ANZ Bank, Autodesk, Mercedes Benz and Royal Bank of Scotland. 

Related reading: The insider’s guide to the making of a digital assistant

“The process of creating lifelike digital humans is time-intensive,” says Cross. “Just look at the video game or movie industry where new releases take years to complete and huge investments.”

He points out production time for Soul Machines’ digital humans is already among the lowest in the industry, taking two to three months. 

But with Digital DNA, individuals and companies can create unlimited numbers of digital humans to better serve and support their customers, fans and prospects online.

Using the technology, companies can determine the color of eyes, shape of face, hair and skin color, age and even determine how many wrinkles and skin blemishes to show.

The CX imperative 

He explains Digital DNA is an important component in creating great customer experience.

“Recently, we have seen brands release avatars and digital humans that are clunky, ugly and embarrassing they look like the digital equivalent old fashioned puppets without the strings,” says Cross.

“Why would you invest so heavily in the future of AI and create a terrible customer experience? We understand that it can be complex to deploy a digital human but no company should settle for less than perfection because their customers will not buy it or engage with it.”

Soul Machines explains the intelligence of digital humans comes from the one-of-a-kind innovative process that uses neural networks to combine biologically inspired models of the human brain and key sensory networks. Together they create a virtual central nervous system called the Human Computing Engine.  

The digital human comes to life when you “plug” the engaging and interactive artificial humans into the cloud-based Human Computing Engine and the result is an emotionally responsive, artificial human with personality and character that allows machines to talk to humans face-to-face.

According to Soul Machines, the models of the 3D faces it creates are as close to the real thing as possible and are an important instrument of emotional expression and engagement between people.

Soul Machines says it models the face in detail, from the way the facial muscles create complex expressions all the way through the eyes that react to images relayed by a computer camera.

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ANZ Bank’s Jamie has a human face, voice and expressions. Liz Maguire, head of digital & transformation at ANZ, says she would like to see Jamie in their mobile banking app, goMoney, to help customers do their banking, and to assist people with language or accessibility issues.
ANZ Bank’s Jamie has a human face, voice and expressions. Liz Maguire, head of digital & transformation at ANZ, says she would like to see Jamie in their mobile banking app, goMoney, to help customers do their banking, and to assist people with language or accessibility issues.