Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnam International Bank (VIB) has launched itsvirtual financial advisor - Vie - with an official music video titled "Vieis AI."

According to VIB, Vie was built with leading modern technologies such asArtificial Intelligence (AI), Machine learning and 3D simulation.

Virtual characters in marketing are an effective alternative to real people,and these characters can be easily changed to match a brand's campaign. In Vietnam,the virtual character, a financial advisor, has barely appeared on the market.

VIB said it had developed Vie to shorten the gap between users and the bank. Atthe same time, Vie will help advertise banking products and services toVietnamese customers in a different, exciting and accessible way.

The VIB representative said there were three main steps in creating Vie:building appearance and personality, creating 3D characters from many differentsketches and automatically simulating Vie with technologies popular inHollywood, such as 3D simulation, Facial Capture and Motion Capture. VIB is oneof the first brands to apply Motion Capture in the process of building virtualcharacters in Vietnam.

Building looks and personality

VIB has developed Vie's appearance based on analysing and updating beautytrends. For example, Vie has a harmonious and plump face that is expected tobring a close feeling to customers. Vie's hair has two highlight curls withVIB's signature colour. This hairstyle, sharp eyes and heart-shaped lips havebuilt Vie with the modern beauty of Vietnamese youth.

Vie's knowledge is constantly updated with unlimited learning ability throughuser interaction using AI technology. VIB's virtual financial advisor willdeeply understand trends in finance, technology and youth style.

Vie is also built with a smart and dynamic personality. This is reflected inhow it communicates to customers, from students, office workers, businesspeople and financial experts, with impressive sentences.

3D modelling

Each of Vie's movements has been collected from real people. Based on theactor's markers, facial capture technology was applied to record all facialactivities according to emotions and body movements, thereby creating the mostrealistic image. For example, how the face rotates when the body rotates, howthe hair moves and how the clothes change are all highly realistic.

At the same time, Vie's expressions are collected using an optical camera. Whenthe actor's face changes expression, the optical camera will fully record andlearn to simulate Vie's face according to the actor's marks. Machine learningallows Vie to analyse and self-learn intelligently; when there is sufficientdata, it can make different 3D expressive suggestions.

Automatic simulation

All Vie's expressions and movements are automatically simulated and learnedthrough Facial capture technology. This technology analyses every movement andpresentation of the actor and later helps Vie automatically learn to performfacial muscle movements that bring out the most realistic expressive nuances.With this technology, the more Vie knows, the more flexible and realistic shebecomes.

Motion Capture technology and Facial Capture are used together to synchroniseVie's actions and facial expressions with the actor. Through the markers on areal person's face, the technology will automatically simulate Vie's look.

Thanks to hyper-realistic 3D technology, Vie's skeletal system is attached to aset of 256 blend shapes, which is a new technology in Asia, even in the filmindustry.

With technology that synchronises the face and body of real people, each ofVie's gestures and actions is very realistic though it is a virtual character,which will be shown in the music video.

Vie's movement and expression are very realistic, completely different from the3D character available in Vietnam years previously. Furthermore, the surreal 3Dtechnology also brings optimal efficiency, allowing VIB to develop more Vievideos and images optimally in terms of time and graphic quality.

After the "Vie is AI" music video debut, VIB will host a talk showintroducing details about the virtual financial advisor. Users can understandmore about this virtual character at the upcoming event or quickly meet andchat with Vie on social networking platforms.

During the event, stories on VIB credit cards, such as instructions on how toopen the card and how to use the card, will be delivered. Vie will also helpparticipants manage their finances effectively such as when using creditcards./.