Creates an avatar in 20 minutes, the’Little Tiger’ raised by Samsung

“There have been many new virtual augmented reality (VR·AR) technologies, but people-oriented content and services have been lacking. It is difficult to realize people in 3D or 4D based on real-life images, so it is mainly limited to viewing or experiencing the surrounding environment. This is why we challenged the creation of’realistic avatars’ based on live-actions by overcoming this limitation.”

Lee Sang-yeop, CEO of Flux Planet, introduced the reason for the start-up in a telephone interview with JoongAng Ilbo on the 15th. The company creates an’avatar’ for customers who visit a 4D XR (mixed reality combination of AR and VR) studio. If you stand in front of the camera and pose, an avatar close to the real is created within 20 to 30 minutes, and it is a’WearME’ service that allows you to try on your favorite clothes based on computer graphics (CG). At this time, clothes are not’virtual clothes’, but clothes that clothing brands actually sell.

Flux is one of the companies selected for’C Lab Outside’ that Samsung Electronics discovers and sponsors. C Lab Outside is a startup support program that expands the know-how of Samsung Electronics’ in-house venture development program’C Lab Inside’ to the outside. Flux is collaborating with Samsung Electronics on a plan to replace Samsung’s AR emojis (characters) with live-action avatars.

CES 2021, the world’s largest consumer electronics and IT exhibition, closed on the 14th (local time), attracted attention by participating in 20 startups supported by Samsung Electronics and Naver. It means that it is a’little tiger’ raised by the largest domestic company.

In this CES, 21 start-ups, including Flux, supported by Samsung Electronics through C Lab In-Out Side for the past year, participated. Six technology-intensive startups fostered by Naver’s corporate accelerator’D2 Startup Factory (D2SF)’ also participated.

CEO Lee Sang-yeop said, “This year, the spatial constraints disappeared (through online progress), and it seems like an opportunity for startups,” said “a number of companies both at home and abroad showed interest.”

Dipping Source, selected for Samsung C Lab Outside, has developed a data technology that preserves only necessary information for learning based on artificial intelligence (AI). The key is to shred sensitive personal information so that the data itself cannot be recognized, and then select and use only the necessary information. It is virtually newly created data through anonymization solution, so it is relatively free from copyright issues. The goal is to catch’two rabbits’ that contribute to the advancement of AI technology while protecting personal information.

Another AI startup, V Touch, introduced the’Virtual Touch Panel’. Even if the user does not directly touch the screen, it recognizes the position and motion of the finger. In the situation of the spread of Corona 19, the risk of contact infection is prevented, and the screen can be easily manipulated even when in a wheelchair or short. It will be applied to elevators, kiosks, and vending machines in the near future. It received the’CES Innovation Award’ at this CES.

Mobiltech, a geospatial information service provider supported by Naver D2SF, released’LC-Localizer’ and won the CES Innovation Award. It is characterized by providing more than 100 times more precise location information than existing GPS. Based on this, 3D maps necessary for autonomous driving robots and cars are created. It recently attracted 4 billion won of investment.

In-guk Korea, head of the Creative Development Center of Samsung Electronics, said, “I hope that startups will find new business opportunities by demonstrating their technology and competitiveness in the global stage of CES.”

Reporter Kwon Yujin [email protected]