In recent years, AI technology has been widely applied in fields such as healthcare, finance, education, transportation, and manufacturing. In the LED field, the combination of AI and LED direct-view displays enables LED screens not only to display information but also to possess human-like intelligent capabilities such as perception, understanding, judgment, reasoning, learning, recognition, generation, and interaction.
The combination of AI and LED direct-view displays can significantly improve the quality of LED displays, broaden their application areas, and unlock their value. At the 2024 TrendForce Self-Emitting Display Industry Seminar, Zhang Jingang, R&D Director of New Display Product Line at Unilumin Technology, delivered a keynote speech titled "Diverse Application Scenarios of AI + LED Direct-View Displays," outlining how the integration of AI and LED is creating diversified market opportunities and showcasing Unilumin Technology's comprehensive LED + AI strategy.
Zhang Jingang, R&D Director of New Display Product Line at Unilumin Technology
AI+LED direct display is gaining momentum . Based on AI+LED direct display technology, virtual shooting has heralded a technological revolution in the film and television industry.
Before the advent of virtual filming technology, film and television works mostly used green screens or live-action shooting. Green screen shooting demands extremely high acting skills from actors because the blank background facilitates post-production, requiring performers to rely on their imagination to portray the characters, which is very challenging. Live-action shooting, on the other hand, is not only very inefficient but also extremely costly.
Compared with green screen and real-life sets, "LED+VP/XR" virtual shooting has comprehensive advantages: First, the on-site shooting is 80% close to the final product, greatly reducing the workload of post-production processing; at the same time, the scenes can be switched at any time, greatly reducing the cost of outdoor shooting; in addition, virtual shooting gives actors an immersive experience, which can avoid the embarrassment of actors performing without real objects.
According to statistics, approximately 60% of film shooting in 2023 was achieved through virtual shooting, and it is estimated that more than 90% of film and television works will be achieved through AI + virtual shooting in the future.
With the current trend, virtual filming has become an important part of Unilumin Technology's LED display business. There are currently about 160 digital film studios worldwide, of which Unilumin Group and its subsidiary Radiant have built 130.
In addition, using AI+LED direct display technology, Mercedes-Benz created an invisible car that can blend into its surroundings; the legendary Swedish band ABBA returned as virtual humans, igniting the London virtual concert; and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang presented a virtual digital human product launch.
A dazzling array of application examples have collectively propelled AI+LED direct display to become a major development trend in the LED display industry, giving rise to a brand-new application space for LEDs.
Unilumin LED+AI Layout Panorama <br /> With the successive implementation of various AI+LED direct-view display application cases, Unilumin Technology has also kept pace with the industry's development and carried out in-depth layout.
In terms of large models and AI tools, Unilumin Technology has built a vertical large model library, a large model application framework, edge AI, and vector library/data engineering to provide AI-related technical support for LED+AI applications.
In terms of content rendering and tools, Unilumin Technology can provide a range of tools such as Unreal Engine, Maya/AE/PS, Unity3D, and Metahuman, making it easy for users to generate rich and colorful content.
In terms of content creation and interaction, Unilumin Technology has developed various interactive modes such as scene interaction, digital human interaction, multi-modal interaction, and virtual-real interaction to meet the diverse application needs of users.
Unilumin Technology uses LED displays as a carrier and leverages AI large-scale models and tools for content creation, resulting in a series of application cases such as VP&XR, aquarium screens, smart boxes, UTV, 3D naked-eye screens, spherical screens, irregularly shaped screens, and CAVE space screens. These can be widely used in industries such as film and television (movies, TV series, etc.), broadcasting (radio, studios, performances, etc.), sports and education (teaching, training, exhibitions, etc.), and advertising (business districts, parks, cultural tourism, etc.). Unilumin can also provide technical empowerment and ecological cooperation.
Six Major Application Scenarios of AI+LED Direct Display <br /> Currently, with the joint efforts of LED display manufacturers, the application scenarios of AI+LED direct display have covered six major scenarios: AI digital human, digital light display, naked-eye 3D, digital exhibition, XR virtual shooting, and AI+LED digital cinema.
In the field of AI digital humans, Unilumin Technology's AI digital virtual employees possess seven core capabilities, including thinking, seeing, hearing, and speaking, making them closer to real people. They can meet the needs of different job positions and provide customers with comprehensive value in areas such as cost reduction and efficiency improvement, AI marketing, brand enhancement, and management optimization. They can be used in various industries, including government and enterprise, finance, culture and tourism, brand e-commerce, and art.
Currently, the most common application scenario for Unilumin's AI digital human is LED conference all-in-one machines. LED all-in-one machines combined with AI digital virtual humans can provide various intelligent conference services, including conference check-in, conference minutes, and conference speech-to-text conversion. Meeting minutes are generated immediately after the meeting, greatly improving work efficiency.
In the field of digital lighting, on the one hand, AI can analyze a large amount of light show data through deep learning algorithms to generate new and unprecedented art performance forms and lighting effects; on the other hand, AI can also adjust lighting effects and music in real time through data analysis of the venue, audience, atmosphere and other aspects, thereby improving audience participation and experience.
One of Unilumin's representative achievements in the field of digital optical display is the Riyadh Season project in Saudi Arabia, which has received praise from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. Unilumin provided the Riyadh Season project with LED screens, digital content, software control, and integrated solutions covering a total area of nearly 20,000 square meters.
In the field of naked-eye 3D, Unilumin customizes the most suitable naked-eye 3D content for the screen based on key factors such as the actual lighting conditions and screen structure. It provides tourists with a one-stop naked-eye 3D content solution, including creativity, planning, scriptwriting, storyboarding, and content production. It also uses AI virtual reality and augmented reality technologies to provide tourists with a more immersive travel experience.
Building upon naked-eye 3D visual effects, Unilumin utilizes creative interactive program development and design to provide interactive and highly experiential programs for multiple usage scenarios of optical displays, bringing tourists and users a more immersive and fun interactive experience.
In terms of digital exhibitions, Unilumin's "immersive space" layers and processes the images of cultural relics patterns, landscape paintings, and artifacts to create a virtual display space, reinterpreting them and recreating dynamic painting scenes. Visitors will embark on a dreamlike, theatrical 4D fully immersive exhibition journey within the giant mirror box of INSIDE, accompanied by lifelike visual effects and dynamic sound effects.
Meanwhile, the Unilumin "Artifact Display Case" can be used to display collections such as ceramics and architectural models. Viewers can control the rotation of exhibits inside the case by clicking on the function list on the screen, and can also view the craftsmanship and detailed composition of virtual exhibits on the screen. Furthermore, online interactive creation is also possible.
XR virtual shooting is mainly used in product launches, live broadcasts, studios, film and television production, advertising shooting, stage performances, etc. AI is widely used in all aspects of film and television production, and has many advantages compared with traditional film and television production.
"Instant Universe" swept seven awards at the 95th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. In the film, Michelle Yeoh, who plays Evelyn, needed to perform a scene where she rapidly travels through multiple parallel universes. Director Daniel Kwan used Radiant CB5 LEDs from Unilumin as three display backgrounds, surrounding Michelle Yeoh, and had her perform the corresponding content in slow motion. The speed of the actors' performance was then increased in post-production to achieve the time-traveling effect.
In the AI+LED digital cinema application scenario, as early as April 2021, Unilumin's UC-A41 LED cinema screen successfully passed DCI certification, making Unilumin the first LED screen manufacturer in the industry to achieve DCI certification. In November of the same year, the UC-A21 cinema screen, jointly developed by the China Film Technology Research Institute and Unilumin, passed DCI certification, making Unilumin the first domestic LED display manufacturer to possess two DCI certifications and the first to achieve practical application of its LED cinema screen. Subsequently, Unilumin's UC-A42, UC-A43, UC-A40, and UC-B21 cinema screens all successfully passed DCI certification, making Unilumin the only company in the industry with six DCI cinema screen certifications.
Summary <br /> Unilumin Technology has deeply explored diverse application opportunities of AI+LED direct-view displays, creating a series of benchmark cases for AI+LED direct-view applications, such as the Shanghai Shaotang Culture VP Studio and the iQiyi THE 9 "City of Reality" immersive virtual concert. Among them, the Shanghai Shaotang Culture VP Studio is China's first internationally-standard film-grade VP virtual production studio, while "X-CITY" is the world's first concert livestream to simultaneously apply film-grade LED realistic virtual production and XR technology.
As the popularity of AI+LED direct-view applications continues to rise, Unilumin Technology will continuously improve its LED+AI panorama, promoting the further penetration of AI+LED direct-view into multiple fields such as AI digital humans, digital light displays, naked-eye 3D, digital exhibitions, XR virtual photography, and AI+LED digital cinemas, thereby boosting the development of the LED display industry with the greater potential of AI+LED direct-view.
