Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 1

Sheridan College will partner with Reimagine AI, a leading software company building AI characters with personality and interactive functionality, to help them achieve breakthrough delivery of solutions within the area of digital character creation. The proposed project will center on research and development of character design, creation and integration into a rapid character pipeline. The results will demonstrate the advantages of character optimization and will be designed to integrate into Reimagine AI's conversational application for mobile processing. These avatars are lightweight, efficient computer-generated non-biased stylized characters that exhibit human-like qualities. The capacity to communicate with humans and provide companionship will be supported in real-time combining AI driven characters with natural human modalities including facial expressions, speech, and gestures. This project will solve several character implementation problems by simplifying a pipeline process and creating structured, lightweight characters and systems to control them. Through collaboration with Reimagine AI, the application will effectively produce Realtime results of communication and expressions by optimizing data. The potential for growth and the commercial application of Conversational AI solutions is growing in a wide range of areas covering training and education, government, military, pedagogy and healthcare. Success within this project will require a research and development process that achieves close coupling and consideration of the relationship between the aesthetics of computer graphics content creation, graphical limitations of hardware, intimate knowledge of complex production and post-production workflows, and software development. The project will enable a team of Sheridan researchers from the digital arts and computer sciences to work together with an industry partner to develop solutions that benefit the company, establishing them as a leader in providing state-of-the-art technology for implementing virtual humans for immersive interactive experiences that emphasize social engagement and aid, significantly impacting the company's revenue potential and employment growth.