the Story behind the Live Broadcast, Visiting Deep Science

Human-computer interaction, AI, is a very new technology for most people. But these technologies have slowly penetrated into our lives and influences us. From smart speakers, to driverless vehicles, community smart delivery vehicles, mobile payment, etc. are all the results of these technologies.

Today we went into the door of new technology together with Deep Science specializing in research and development of human-computer  interaction and AI technology.

CGGE: could you please briefly introduce your company?

Mr. Cheng: Established in 2016, Deep Science is an extended reality imaging technology company. Based on our own patents in the fields of human-computer interaction and computer simulation, we have created a set of engines that can quickly produce video content, which is widely used in many industries such as film and television, animation, VR/AR, games and live broadcasting.

CGGE: Why did you focus on engine development for image processing?

Mr. Cheng: The main information carrier now and in the future is image and video, so display technology has potential in long-term development. At the same time, the  image and video production team is also facing the challenge of continuously improving content production capabilities. At that time, we saw both the development prospects of emerging display technologies such as VR/AR, and the bottleneck of traditional CG animation and other content production technologies. We decided to develop a product that can help video production companies improve the efficiency and quality of content production. The extended reality imaging technology is the key.

For example, traditional animation companies are good at animation production. They want to use animation IP for live broadcast. However, there are many technical problems that they cannot solve. Now, with the help of the DreamMaker Lite system of our company, they only need 3 minutes of learning to start virtual live broadcasting with animated characters.

From another perspective, many colleges and universities purchased optical motion capture or inertial motion capture equipment once in the past. And there was still a high threshold for using these equipment for animation. We visited many colleges and found that they bought these devices, however, they don’t know how to use it. Many students couldn’t produce even simple 3D animation when they graduated. Therefore, we hope to develop a production engine that combines software and hardware, and make it simple and easy to use; so that any animation and new media majors can easily make their own works. I’m glad that our original ideas have already become a reality in some universities. Like colleges and schools in Guangxi Hezhou College, teachers, and classmates pay more attention to out technology and apply our equipment to daily teaching. Now it has become the key and highlight course.We not only provided technical guidance for teachers and students, but also introduced many commercial jobs to them, forming a benign and win-win cooperation.

CGGE: At present, what’s the main area for the commercial application of your products?

Success: Our main product is DreamMaker Lite, a one-stop real-time extended reality content production engine. It was mainly used in traditional video production areas such as college training, film and animation production. Recently, some live broadcast agencies have tried to use our products for virtual live broadcasts, and have achieved good results. Customers in the fields of MCN agencies, virtual idols, virtual live broadcasts, and e-commerce have actively come to the door. This not only shows that our products are very practical, but also have more new application scenarios waiting to be discovered.

CGGE: Your technology such as human-computer interaction technology and AI image processing technology, etc. are advanced. What is the significance for the future development of the industry?

Success: Energizing the traditional industries and reducing the cost of video production are the two major values that our profound new technologies bring to the industry. DreamMaker Lite, the extended reality content production engine of China Science and Technology, allows traditional communication companies, TV stations and other state-owned enterprises to perform virtual live broadcasts and play a trendy marketing method; allows animation companies to quickly produce complex animations, greatly reduce production costs; let e-commerce anchors be able to transform into cute and charming anime characters and gain a stronger ability for commercial cash..

However, it is always a minority of people who have the courage to eat the first crab. The content produced with technology is not as good as the elaborate artificial works in terms of expressiveness and details, so some video production companies are more repulsive to the application of new technologies. But with the rapid development of technology, the gap between technological production and craftsmanship has narrowed sharply, and its quality has gradually become acceptable. In the process of accepting new technologies, there must be some changes in the overall situation of the industry. For practitioners, active embrace of changes can take the lead.

CGGE: We know that many foreign companies also independently developed many real-time live broadcast systems abroad. So compared to similar products of these overseas peers, what do you think are the characteristics of your products different from other products?

Cheng: Due to the richer industrial environment in China, the products of Chinese companies often need to meet more complex and diverse functional requirements. As a local Chinese company, our products also have strong “Chinese characteristics.” For example, emerging businesses such as virtual idols and virtual live broadcasts have emerged in Japan, but after it entered China, they quickly gained applications and innovations in various markets. This year, the virtual live broadcast market in Japan is not much different from last year, but Chinese companies have already begun to use virtual IP live broadcast to sale goods, and the momentum is very strong, which has produced a wealth creation effect, while it’s not available abroad.

In terms of practical applications, the DreamMaker Lite system we developed focuses on the characteristics of rapid transformation and more business of domestic companies. Not only can it meet the needs of live broadcasting, but also allow animation companies to recreate animation production work-flows with mufti-functions. For example, DreamMaker can record FBX action files, and can also use one-click AI action rough repair. These motion data can also be easily imported into animation production tools such as MAYA, forming a new work-flow for efficient animation production. Foreign products rarely make such considerations, and they do not pay much attention to the business diversity of small and medium-sized companies.

CGGE: I noticed that your products can be used by people with no nil basis. Do you have any plans for education business in the future?

Success: There are many simple solutions on the market that can achieve virtual live broadcasting, but they cannot meet the higher requirements of enterprises for advanced product functions and high stability. Our products first meet the needs of the enterprise level. Based on this, at one hand, we continue to optimize to make it easier to use and more cost-effective, so that customers without professionals can easily get started; on the other hand, we continue develop more professional functions to meet the higher demands of professional organizations. This is the direction we have been striving for, and there has been some progress. There will be news to be announced recently.

In June, our new products “DreamMaker Easy” will be officially launched. You only beed a common USB camera to start the virtual live broadcast. The price is less than RMB4,000 yuan. It will help more and more small and medium-sized e-commerce companies participate in the virtual live broadcast.

Thanks.

By:CGGE