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produced by phoenix v live, phoenix technology

author | dong yuqing

editor | yu hao

as one of the important scenarios for the implementation of large models, the digital human track has experienced rapid development in the past year. the advancement of technology has given digital humans a better experience in interacting with humans.

when talking about the specific applications of digital humans, many people have seen the various images of digital humans in digital human live broadcasts, digital human customer service, and digital spokespersons.

does this mean that the era of digital humans has come to full bloom?to this end, phoenix network technology recently interviewed ji zhihui, ceo of shiyou technology. shiyou technology is a startup company focusing on virtual human technology. so far, it has created more than 1,200 virtual digital human images, such as the spokespersons of melatonin "old man white & old lady gold", haier brothers, etc. although it has a lot of experience in the full process of digital human creation and full-scenario services of the metaverse, ji zhihui believes that digital humans are far from the moment of real explosion.

in his opinion, if digital humans want to truly enter the home scene, they must go through more iterations of hardware infrastructure. "digital humans are limited by current visual performance, which may be large or small screens, and the interactive experience is not immersive enough. the real explosion in the future may be offline. as the price of holographic projection decreases, the current led screens or tvs can be replaced, and they can be presented in many places, or with the advancement of vr glasses."

digital humans represent an economic trend for the future world, but the current scale-up problem still needs to be solved.

the following is a conversation between phoenix technology and ji zhihui, edited and published:

“large models bring opportunities to digital humans, but the explosion is far from over.”

phoenix technology:

have digital humans now developed to a relatively mature stage?

ji zhihui:

digital humans focus more on technology and algorithms, and content is generated through these technologies. to generate these contents, interact or provide experience, a lot of technical accumulation and application scenarios are needed to support them. after all, this is the early stage of a new technology. it is not yet possible to achieve scale, breakthrough or explosion in a single field. it is still in the tob stage facing industries and specific application scenarios. i don’t think it’s our explosion period now.

phoenix technology:

hasn’t the development of large-scale model technology also brought changes to this industry?

ji zhihui:

there have been big changes, but there has not been a real explosion. what does it mean to explode? we should look at it in two scenarios, online and offline. in many online scenarios, digital people may provide services, but we don’t see this situation today. we still haven’t seen offline scenarios. for example, when you walk into a tea room, there is a transparent screen on the glass, and there is a digital person inside. i can ask him to call someone for me, or bring me coffee, and the robot will bring the coffee to me. this is part of the business scenario. if ai is ubiquitous one day, digital people will also be ubiquitous. in the home scenario, we replace the remote control with a digital person to turn on the machine, ask the digital person what to watch, and the digital person will find the content you want to watch. in the fitness industry, digital people are equivalent to a home assistant and can solve many problems.

the same is true for car-computer conversations. you can’t just hear the voice, you have to see the person. the best human-computer interaction interface we communicate with is between a person and a digital person.

phoenix technology:

what factors do you think limit the development of digital humans?

ji zhihui:

the entire digital human is limited by our current visual performance. currently, there are some large and small screens, such as mobile phone screens. in fact, our interactive experience with digital humans on these screens is not immersive enough. so the real explosion may be offline. as the price and cost of holographic projection decrease, the current led screens or tvs can be replaced, and then they can be presented in many places. this is one type. the second type is mr or ar glasses. you only need to wear glasses to see many digital humans. the hardware infrastructure is complete before the real explosion of digital humans. at that time, digital humans are everywhere.

phoenix technology:

large models actually also have this pain, which is that they cannot find more application scenarios.

ji zhihui:

digital human technology itself is an important application scenario under the development of large-scale model technology. in this era, the role of digital humans is indispensable. ai, as the underlying support of the entire era, provides the necessary computing power and capabilities. this capability needs to reflect its value in specific application scenarios and establish connections with users through interactive interfaces. we have been exploring and looking for suitable application scenarios, but many people want to skip the development process and go directly to the consumer market.

phoenix technology:

you mentioned before that shiyou will cooperate with some large model companies. which ones do you have more cooperation with at present?

ji zhihui:

in fact, we have a low reliance on large models and will not be tied to any one of them, because they are basically open models, and they are all the same to us. unless some customers have specific needs, we will choose specific large model services. we will also evaluate how these models are trained in different industries and different application scenarios, and will give priority to choosing them, but basically we are not very dependent.

some customers have already purchased the large model service, but they found that the application scenarios of large models are limited, so they hope to add digital human elements to the exhibition hall. we will choose the appropriate service based on the large models used by the customers, so we are not picky about the selection of large models.

"the large-scale application of digital humans must be in business first and then in the home"

phoenix technology:

what plans does shiyou have for promoting the commercialization of digital humans?

ji zhihui:

we have already made arrangements in the tob and toc markets. in about a year, many people will be able to experience the metaverse scene. it may not be for home users, but in commercial entities, such as the real-life entertainment project "the vanishing pharaoh". this kind of experience is what everyone is willing to consume. with the development of the industry, movie theaters, internet cafes, social script-killing and other escape rooms may appear in the metaverse in the future.

phoenix technology:

therefore, applications that are more real-life entertainment-oriented will appear first, and then will feed back to families.

ji zhihui:

yes, because the maturity curve of all new technologies is the same as their production process. steam engines were first used only on trains and ships, and then electricity, and then in homes. it must be the b-end companies and big brands that start using it, and then it slowly sinks in, because it takes a process for the cost of technology to fall, and it needs to be constantly polished and matured in some scenarios.

phoenix technology:

what is the current industry adoption rate of digital employees?

ji zhihui:

digital employees are currently one of the important application scenarios of digital people, and the application efficiency of digital employees is also increasing with the development of technology. however, it should be noted that the application rate will also be affected by factors such as technology acceptance, investment budget, data security and privacy protection. the application rate may vary in different industries and regions. in addition, with the continuous advancement of technology and the reduction of costs, the application rate of digital employees is expected to continue to grow.

phoenix technology:

you mentioned the role of propaganda. why are the vast majority of digital people now female?

ji zhihui:

it is true that many digital professionals are women, especially in terms of brand promotion, because they are more approachable. in the field of consumer goods, we created cartoon characters such as haier brothers and melatonin. many companies also have their own brand mascots, such as jd.com's metal dog, tmall's cat-shaped doll, and suning's little lion.

phoenix technology:

what do you think about the long-term development of the digital human track?

ji zhihui:

the future is definitely a digital era. data visualization is an inevitable trend of future development and a part of the digital economy advocated by the country. with the continuous advancement of technology and the continuous expansion of application scenarios, the functions of digital people will gradually expand from universal to personalized penetration. the large-scale implementation and industrial application of digital people have taken shape and are expected to make greater progress in the next few years and eventually become the interactive method for users in the digital age.