Happy Friday!
This week, as lockdown restrictions start to ease around the world, we are seeing a return of live sporting events to TV, although without the big audiences. To add atmosphere, BT Sport has added a 'Watch Together' feature to its app for co-viewing with friends. Complete with audience sound effects.
In India, without live Indian Premier League cricket, Disney+ Hotstar has invested in streaming fitness programming. In China, shoppertainment is here to stay, and everywhere, user generated content has taken off, as people crave extra human connection.
Our Top Pick is a list of must-watch films made by black filmmakers, curated by Empire, that will inform our weekend viewing, as we reflect on events in the US this past week.
Gamemakers inject AI to develop more lifelike characters
And Finally...
This is a great insight into the use of AI to automate and improve character development in video games. However, our key takeaway is this ...
An AI engine learned how to recreate the classic game Pac-Man without any of the original code.
This is something that took 10 engineers at Namco 17 months to do, 40 years ago.