Can you imagine that you could write the text of that presentation that they are so lazy to make and that a program will automatically create a video with an avatar identical to you who will explain the project on your behalf? The embarrassment and nerves that many professionals would save. Far from being science fiction, the truth is that anyone who knows how to use a Power Point can create that video in a few minutes thanks to the technology of Shyntesiaone of the largest European unicorns in the field of artificial intelligence –valued at more than 4,000 million of euros – and which counts among its co-founders the Spanish researcher Lourdes Agapito.
The also professor at University College London has collected the excellence award granted by the organizing committee of the IV European Forum on Artificial Intelligence of Alicante and which has been given to him by the editorial director of Prensa Ibérica, Ainhoa Moll, after the presentation of the director of Ellis Alicante, Nuria Oliver.
An award that recognizes, among other things, the potential of this technology to do good and contribute to global progress. Not in vain, Synthesia unveiled its platform with a video in which the soccer star David Beckham spoke in nine languages to ask for greater commitment from all countries to definitively end malaria.
Path
As the winner herself has related, Agapito began her research attracted by the mental processes that allow human beings to process the images What do you see to elaborate later? new representations based on that reality, as happens when a painting is painted. And, especially, the mechanisms that allow, with a few points or very schematic lines, the human brain to be able to intuit and know what movements a figure is representing.
The idea was to achieve that same process for generate new moving images through mathematical algorithms. An example would be the techniques that have been used for years in the cinema special effects and that allow, for example, to transfer the movement of a series of points on an actor's face to animate a character, as occurs in “Planet of the Apes” and many other films.
The co-founder of Shyntesia, during her speech at the forum held in the Alicante Provincial Council Auditorium. / Rafa Arjones
The great advance of the researcher was to achieve that, with a single reference videothree-dimensional models of new images of that person could be created. “This is what is known as analysis based on synthesis. We have a representation that is the shape of the object in a neutral position and we estimate how we should deform that shape so that, when it is projected, let's see something real“explained the university professor.
Partners
Later, Lourdes Agapito joined Matthias Niessner, who worked in the same field, and finally to the Danes Victor Riparbelli y Steffen Tjerrild to create Shyntesia. “We saw that it had a lot of potential to create videos without having to use cameras, microphones or actors and drastically reduce costs“, he explained during his talk at the Auditorium of the Provincial Council of Alicante. It was the year 2017 and then “there was not even talk of AI”, he recalled. In fact, his work was based on mathematical models, there were no algorithms yet.
His first known project was the famous video of Beckhamfor which they still had to record nine people in different languages and digitally transfer those gestures to the footballer's face.
“It was the first time this technology was taught and we show that generative AI can also be used for beneficial things for society and have very positive effects,” he noted.
From text
The next step was create images from scratch, from textby generating avatars. A technology that 70% of Fortune 100 companies already use it to generate training or internal communication videos, among other tasks.
Its great success is having also achieved it with a very easy-to-use platform. “Anyone who knows how to use a Power Point is capable of creating new videos“he explained.
She is also a professor at University College London at another point in her speech. / Rafa Arjones
Thanks to these advances, the company reached a valuation of 1,000 million in 2023 and today it has already exceeded 4,000. Furthermore, it has a staff of more than 500 people. “We are an example of an AI company based in Europe that has developed a technology that anyone can use,” said the researcher, who also boasted that organizations such as the United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS) and the UN also use her technology.
Lourdes Agapito also wanted to highlight the importance of “ethical” foundations of the company, which materialize in that there can never be an avatar of someone who has not given their consentin controlling the content that is uploaded to the platform to guarantee that it is not used for negative purposes or to spread false information; and in collaboration to draft the necessary regulation.
Agapito closed his conference with a video of his own avatar, impossible to distinguish from reality.
Reference for women
After the award was presented, Lourdes Agapito wanted to thank the recognition and highlight the importance of increasingly granting this type of distinction to women.
“It is important that we have more visibility entrepreneurial women and, especially, Spanish ones. This world is still very male dominated and we are beginning to see many women who are making strides in research and entrepreneurship. and also give positive examples of how research and entrepreneurship can be carried out with ethical foundations”, he concluded his intervention.
Subscribe to continue reading
