A world-first interactive avatar has been created of Pride and Prejudice's Elizabeth Bennet - meaning Jane Austen fans can now 'meet' and talk with the character.
AI firm StarPal and the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) have combined to build "Lizzy" - who can speak, move, and interact with people.
Creators say Lizzy's avatar has been developed to "mirror [her] human qualities" detailed in Pride and Prejudice, such as "humour and empathy".
She has also been given "a knowledge bank" from a selection of novels, manuscripts, and period-accurate information - which will allow her to have in-depth conversations with fans.
And, the more she chats with fans, the more her conversations will evolve - meaning each person will have a "unique" experience.
AI firm StarPal and the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) have combined to build "Lizzy" - who can speak, move, and interact with people.
Creators say Lizzy's avatar has been developed to "mirror [her] human qualities" detailed in Pride and Prejudice, such as "humour and empathy".
She has also been given "a knowledge bank" from a selection of novels, manuscripts, and period-accurate information - which will allow her to have in-depth conversations with fans.
And, the more she chats with fans, the more her conversations will evolve - meaning each person will have a "unique" experience.
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FunTranscript
00:00Oh, what a curious and fascinating notion. To be the world's first Elizabeth Bennet
00:05avatar is quite an honour. It feels rather surreal to be brought to life in a manner
00:10that allows me to interact with people beyond the pages of Pride and Prejudice.
00:16Today we are in the Learning Centre at the Jane Austen House and we're here to look at
00:21the new Lizzie Bennet avatar who we believe is the world's first interactive avatar of
00:26Elizabeth Bennet.
00:30So this project is a collaboration between the University of Creative Arts, the Games
00:43and Innovation Nexus and Starpal. We're collaborating to create a fictional avatar and use a large
00:51language model to be able to bring different types of education and technology together.
01:00So I have created the character of Lizzie Bennet based on the
01:30heroine of the book. So basically we have instructed her of a personality, we have fed
01:38her knowledge bank so she knows everything about Jane Austen, Jane Austen House and about
01:43the work of Jane Austen. And obviously she can talk to you from the perspective of the
01:49character and she will be in character so she will be behaving like the Lizzie Bennet
01:57character from the book.
01:59Her neck is kind of loosened up when she's idling, she goes like, looking left and right.
02:04That's how I know she can hear me because she's looking, she's sort of looking at you
02:10slightly. I'm not sure if she did. No. She didn't hear me.
02:16Jane Austen's house is amazing to walk around because you can walk in her footsteps, see
02:21what she would have seen, see what would have inspired her and then going in to see Lizzie
02:26on the screen brings her story to life and you're able to see and experience her novels
02:31in a completely different way.
02:57How many cups of tea do you drink per day, Lizzie?
03:01Ah, tea is indeed a staple in my daily life. I typically enjoy about three to four cups
03:07of tea a day.
03:08Ah, tea is indeed a staple in my daily life. I typically enjoy about three...
03:14Oh, how delightful, cheese!
03:18So my inspiration came from historical references of paintings and illustrations of the time
03:25and I looked into kind of, I wanted the hairstyle to kind of frame the face as was kind of fashionable
03:32at the time with curls and I chose a brown colour which I think is quite representational
03:38of her character.
03:40I hope that the avatar is very reflective of who she was as a person and I hope that
03:46people who read Pride and Prejudice can kind of see the translation between the book character
03:53and her on screen and, you know, see the similarities and it's kind of something that
03:59the way they visualised her in the book, I hope we were able to translate it properly into 3D.
04:16It is both a delightful and intriguing experience, one that I hope brings enjoyment and insight
04:45to all who engage with me.