Today, NCSOFT has showcased one of its technological advancements in the field of Artificial Intelligence with the creation of a Digital Human, which took to the stage of GDC 2023 and talked about an upcoming project by the company dubbed Project M (Not that one) which would further harness the power of AI and graphics technology to an unprecedented level… At least, that’s what the company believes.
Before we discuss the nature of Project M, let’s watch the trailer that was introduced by a Digital Human version of NCSOFT’s Chief Creative Officer, Taekjin Kim. You can watch this trailer below:
The Digital Human is a creation that was developed utilizing NCSOFT’s AI technology and its advanced art and graphics technological capabilities. The trailer’s digital human speech voice was generated from the company’s AI text-to-speech (TTS) synthesis technology. It translates text information into natural human speech reflecting a particular person’s voice, accent, and emotions.
If you’re curious, the facial expression and lip-sync work was done by NCSOFT’s voice-to-face technology. This is an AI-based facial animation technology that produces facial animations that match the given text or voice prompts. In conjunction with the TTS synthesis technology, NCSOFT was able to create a Digital Human that had a realistic facial look and would take the stage at GDC 2023 to introduce Project M.
Project M is one of NCSOFT’s latest projects. This game is an action-adventure title (wasn’t it a Narrative experience?) that’s designed with immersive interactive elements. The world in Project M comprises informational particles, and the players can simulate the momentarily provided time and space. The core gameplay is designed to expand and change the story with the information the player obtains throughout their play. This project uses Unreal Engine 5 to bring lifelike graphics through Motion Capture, 3D Scanning, and VFX technologies.
At the moment, we don’t know much about what the upcoming project will be called or its release date. However, NCSOFT has confirmed that the game is currently in development for consoles. Songyee Yoon, the CSO of NCSOFT, stated that Project M aims to use the power of cutting-edge AI and graphics technology to an unprecedented level and that Unreal Engine 5’s implementation resulted in graphics with breathtaking detail.
