**Namrata Singh, Head-Emerging Tech & Digital, Sony Entertainment Talent Ventures India **
Sony Entertainment Talent Ventures India (SETVI) is a part of the Global Sony Group, a joint venture by Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Pictures Entertainment. The company, incorporated in 2021, focuses on redefining the talent business in India, encompassing ventures, platforms, digital goods, NFTs, and content IPs. It aims to devise innovative metaverse strategies across various genres, emphasizing storytelling and content creation.
Namrata Singh discusses the complexities and subtleties of creating photorealistic digital avatars or “virtual influencers,” with a focus on capturing not just the physical likeness, but also the essence and individuality of the characters. They emphasize the importance of infusing these avatars with a blend of philosophy, psychology, and storytelling, including their backstory and individual responses to various situations, which they believe are essential to make them relatable and realistic. They mention the creation of Indian characters, aiming to bridge the gap in representation.
Namrata Singh also addresses the importance of capturing nuances of attractiveness, gender characteristics, behavior, and mannerisms. Namrata Singh emphasizes the role of AI in supplying these virtual characters with wisdom and knowledge, aiming for them to represent a certain worldview rather than striving for perfection. Despite the technological limitations, they stress that storytelling is key to bringing the character to life.
In the future, Namrata Singh sees the potential for more evolved virtual influencers and the possibility of digital doubles for celebrities in the creator economy. However, they stress that it’s not just about mimicking physical likeness but about capturing and transferring the individual’s spirit into their digital doubleâ??a task they believe could take decades to perfect. They express a desire to connect with other virtual influencer creators to exchange ideas and learn from each other.