24/7 NEWSCASTER

The First Fully Controllable Newscaster With CGI Lip-Sync Tech

We recruited Naomi Watanabe, a major influencer on social media. To produce real-time videos with this busy star, we extracted her voice traits, facial expressions, and 3D scanning data and used the latest lip sync tech to create the CGI newscaster.

No matter what the headlines say, she can read them naturally. We produced videos within 48 hours without any actual filming.

In seven weeks, we made 26 videos and 156 banners. 240 million people saw our news, and video completion rate was 342% over the average. By delivering the latest magazine articles as news bulletins, we successfully boosted the information value of magazines.

We challenged to create video news right after ‘d magazine’ received the latest articles. First, we decided to use Japan’s No.1 influencer as a newscaster to reach our audience. Since she is extremely busy, it wouldn’t be possible to create videos promptly if we shoot her every time. Therefore, we developed a system that enables us to create videos without shooting using data extracted from her. This real time video generation system made it possible to reach our audience with the latest real-time news.

Web news stories and social media posts frequently quote magazines. However, real magazines are slow in spreading information, causing magazines to miss out on chances to be read. “d magazine”, Japan’s largest magazine subscription app, challenged to restore value to magazines as a news medium.