Hollywood's New Sci-fi Film "b" Has Chosen an AI Robot to Play the Leading Female Role!
Erica, the AI robot created by Japanese robot godfather Hiroshi Ishiguro over many years, has been selected by Hollywood to play the leading role in the sci-fi blockbuster "B". If the filming is successfully completed, it will become a major innovation in film history.
There are robot characters in many Hollywood science fiction blockbusters, such as "I, Robot", "My Girlfriend is a Robot", "Ex Machina", etc.
These robot images with futuristic elements have left a deep impression on many viewers. But as we all know, they are actually synthesized by post-production special effects and are not real robots.
Recently, Hollywood actually invited an AI robot to play the heroine in the science fiction film "B". The robot is named Erica and was created by Hiroshi Ishiguro, the godfather of Japanese robots.
AI robot makes stunning film, takes the lead role
Due to this year's epidemic, the film industry has suffered a huge impact. In addition to the withdrawal of many blockbusters, films such as "Mission Impossible 7", "Batman", and "Jurassic World 3" have also been suspended.
They set their sights on a robot "actor".She may be the only actor who is immune to the new coronavirus at the moment.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, a science fiction film called "b" has been approved recently, and the heroine of the film will be played by the AI robot Erica.
According to the film's creative team, the film tells the story of a scientist who studies human DNA and discovers that there is a terrorist conspiracy to destroy the world behind the institution he works for. So he turns to join hands with the genetically modified superman (played by Erica) he studied to fight against the dark organization.
"b" is jointly developed by Bondit Capital, the company that produced "Loving Vincent" and "Skinny", Happy Moon of Belgium and Ten Global of New York, with an estimated investment of US$70 million (approximately RMB 495 million).The producer said: This will be the first film in film history to feature artificial intelligence robots as actors.
At present, the director and other human actors of "b" have not been determined, but the production team has been shooting part of Erica's scenes in Japan since last year, and the rest of the shooting is expected to start in Europe in June next year.
In this regard, netizens' attitudes are polarized, with support and opposition being serious:
It is indeed the first time in history that a robot plays a role. What is interesting is that Erica plays herself. I wonder if Erica's acting skills and performance can be recognized by the audience.
Erica R&D process: Focus on optimizing appearance
Erica is five years old. She made her public debut in 2015 and is considered by her creators to be the most beautiful and intelligent robot in the world.
Erica's age is set to always be 23.Height 166cm, shoulder width 36cm, chest 84cm, able to communicate in Japanese and English.
In 2015, Erica introduced herself and thought she would help humanity in her work.
Her appearance is a synthesis of the facial features of multiple beauties, and her voice is synthesized based on the recordings of voice actors.
According to the researchers,Erica uses a variety of technologies including speech recognition, infrared body tracking, speech synthesis and natural motion generation.Her eyes, mouth, neck, etc. can be moved by air pressure, and can express various expressions and movements according to the language.
However, just having these conditions is far from enough to star in a Hollywood blockbuster.
Sam Khoze, producer of the film "b", said, "In other films, real actors will incorporate their own experiences into the characters, which are reflected in their acting. But Erica has no life experience at all and is starting from scratch."
"so,We will teach her the performance of movements and emotions through a one-on-one approach., using her feelings to guide its character development and body language expression.”
Erica's recent photo shows her elegant Gucci outfit. It's true that she raised her son poorly but her daughter well.
In order to make Erica a formal film actor, the development team has been training her in various film acting skills. Relying on the powerful learning ability of artificial intelligence, Erica has made great progress in acting.
Erica's creator Hiroshi Ishiguro said,“The technology we are developing makes robots more flexible by integrating various technologies such as speech recognition, human tracking and motion generation.”
Currently, the AI robot actor Erica has her own IMDB homepage with the following introduction: Erica robot is an actress famous for the movie "b".
Note: IMDb is a film database website that covers personal pages of filmmakers around the world.
Creator Hiroshi Ishiguro: Created more than 30 internet celebrity robots in 20 years
Erica's creator, Hiroshi Ishiguro, can be said to be a representative of people with great imagination.
He has been focusing on the research of humanoid robots for more than 20 years and has launched more than 30 robots.He is therefore known as the godfather of modern Japanese robots, and is also known as a robot genius and a robot maniac..
Born in 1963, he has loved making robot models since he was a child. When he was studying at Yamanashi University in Japan, he built a robot to guide the blind.
In 2001,He made an entry-level robot called ReplieeR1 (R stands for Risa) based on his then four-year-old daughter Risa, but the robot had too few brakes, so its movements seemed stiff and unnatural.
In 2005,Hiroshi Ishiguro developed a replica of TV host Masako Fuji, Repliee Q1, based on her.
Repliee Q1 is made of shape-memory silicone and plaster models, which are soft to the touch. After being specially painted, with clothes, wig and lipstick, it looks almost like a replica of Fuji Masako.
2006, he launched a robot called Geminoid HI-1 based on himself.
The robot monk Mindar, which we reported last year, was also created by Hiroshi Ishiguro. We have to admire the professor's imagination. (SeeIn this century, Buddha sent robots to spread Buddhism）
He has publicly stated thatHis most fundamental purpose is not to replicate human appearance, but to replicate the intimacy between people.Strive to make the interaction between humans and robots reach the natural level of human-to-human interaction.
In order to successfully imitate human appearance and behavior, Ishiguro also incorporated cognitive science into robotics.
In 2019, Ishiguro said at a technology conference,He currently has a desire and intention system installed in the robots he designs.He believes that after this, robots will have autonomous consciousness, andDesire SystemIt will be the key factor in achieving robot self-awareness.
Is it particularly cyberpunk?
Whether it is real-life performances or pure special effects, robots have always been an important presence in science fiction movies.
But the participation of Hiroshi Ishiguro's team and the true-to-life performance of the robot Erica made this sci-fi movie "b" truly sci-fi.
References:
-https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ai-robot-cast-lead-role-70m-sci-fi-film-1300068
-https://kknews.cc/tech/3ovj4oy.html
-https://www.thenewslens.com/article/21865
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