**Interview with Bandi Production Manager, Yoon Yoon-hyuk, Deputy Manager of IP Planning Team, VA Corporation**
*3D construction of wires rather than face synthesisâ?¦ Virtual Human / AI Human Business Lead*
*Bandi, Gyeonggi-do ambassadorâ?¦ â??Let’s leave our hands and grow on our own through deep learningâ?*
â??I am always thinking about making another virtual human that stands out among the pouring virtual humans. At first glance, it was made to be modest. It’s not meant to flash and disappear, but so that it will naturally melt even after a few years and be loved by many people. â?
Deputy Director Yoon Yoon-hyeok, who is in charge of the production of the virtual human ‘Bandi’ at V Corporation, said this. V Corporation, ametaverse platform company, introduced the virtual human Bandi for the first time this year. The name Van:D is an expression of the smiley emoticon 😀 in Virtual And and Digital, which means ‘light up the world like a firefly’. In January of this year, Bandi was appointed as the first virtual human being as a public relations ambassador for the Gyeonggi Provincial Government.
Deputy Director Yoon Yoon-hyeok is in charge of the Virtual Human Business business. After finding and planning a B2B or B2C service area that can be serviced by a virtual human, he designs a production pipeline with engineers accordingly.
The biggest feature of Bandi is that it implements the whole body in 3D instead of the existing face synthesis method. â??We are still in R & D, but we are creating a virtual human that can be controlled in real time,â? said Deputy Director Yoon. He said, “The purpose is to create a high-quality virtual human like a real person by realizing the whole body from head to toe in 3D, over the unpleasant valley.”
Real-time implementation technology requires more difficult technology than simple synthetic form of virtual human production and VFX production through rendering. When a virtual human winks, even one texture of the skin has to move in real time, which sometimes runs into technical limitations.
â??Iâ??m always thinking about how to look real. There is a limit when using the real-time engine available now. It can be done with directing, but it is a part that can only be solved with technology. We are continuously conducting R&D to solve this problem.â?
Virtual production is already being actively carried out in the field of content. The biggest advantage of virtual production is cost savings. There is no need for actors and large sets, which increases the efficiency of the production environment. Another advantage is that it can create compositions that cannot be attempted with a real camera.
â??Until a few years ago, I never thought that I would make a movie using the game engine of virtual production,â? said Deputy Manager Yoon. ..
As the industry related to metaverse grows, the demand for related personnel such as 3D modelers and engineers has also increased. If you want to work in the field of virtual production, Deputy Director Yoon cited’broad thinking’ to understand and accept new technologies as a necessary virtue. He also studied a master’s degree in multimedia at the Paris University of the Arts, and it is said that his experience of creating works of art by combining various media was helpful in his practice.
Deputy Manager Yoon said, “What I always tell my team members is’I want to take a broader look’. When a new technology comes out, we have to think broadly, do not close our thinking, and pay attention to how the market and technology flow. â?
The goal of V Corporation is to combine AI (artificial intelligence) to enable virtual humans to drive and control themselves in real time. Deputy Director Yoon emphasized, â??Rather than being a celebrity, we aim to be a human equipped with AI that can appear when anyone finds it comfortably.â?
â??I dream that one day, Bandi will leave our hands and choose and grow by itself through deep learning. As Bandi is active in various forms on various platforms, although their appearance may be slightly different, I hope that Bandiâ??s AI will become one and grow into a form that can be said to be â??Bandi by anyone looking at itâ??.â?
https://www.etoday.co.kr/news/view/2144969