Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Automatic Machinima News-Broadcasting

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the almost-listenable dept.

MattSparkes writes "Researchers claim to have produced software that automatically generates timely video news bulletins, presented by computer-animated characters, which could revolutionise current affairs broadcasting. The system, called News at Seven, takes RSS news feeds and does some formatting before passing it to an avatar from Half-Life 2 to read out. Based on keywords, the system also draws in video from YouTube and images from Flickr to supplement the speech."

138 comments

  1. Sweet! by Cleon · · Score: 4, Funny

    Nifty! Now, how long before they come up with a Max Headroom version? :D

    --
    Gifts for Geeks - Stuff that really matters!
    1. Re:Sweet! by der+wachter · · Score: 1

      I'd like to see Fox News Hannity and Colmes and Doodle-Bob. (For the uninitiated - Doodle Bob was a magic pencil sketched self-portrait of Sponge Bob. Doodle Bob leaped off the page but was unable to effectively deal with being a two-dimensional character in a three-dimensional world. Doodle Bob suffered what appeared to be the cartoon equivalent of a schizophrenic break. You know "fair and balanced". Gosh the irony here is endless . . . ( URL: http://www.unitedspongebob.com/page.php?page=doodl ebio )

    2. Re:Sweet! by nschubach · · Score: 1

      I was talking to a guy in his mid-twenties yesterday and Max came up in conversation. (We were talking about sound stutter issues in a program we are developing.) The guy didn't even know who Max Headroom was! I felt ... cold. So cold.

      --
      Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
    3. Re:Sweet! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Max Headroom would be cool, but I want my news to be read by the G-Man. "The WH-ITE h-ouse issssued a ... PRESS stayte-ment toDAY.."

    4. Re:Sweet! by el+americano · · Score: 1

      Get your terminology right. It will undoubtedly be a "mash-up" of Max Headroom, RSS, and Google Video.

      --
      Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others. -Groucho Marx
    5. Re:Sweet! by Cleon · · Score: 0

      Better yet--MORBO!

      On Guantanamo and torture of detainees:

      "Humans do not yet know the meaning of 'suffering!'"

      After the upcoming election:

      "Morbo congratulates the winners of the congressional races. My death come quickly to their enemies."

      On global warming:

      "One day, my race will destroy all you puny humans!"

      --
      Gifts for Geeks - Stuff that really matters!
    6. Re:Sweet! by macshome · · Score: 1

      "mash-up"? No fair! You RTFA!

    7. Re:Sweet! by nappingcracker · · Score: 1

      Forget M-M-Max Head-d-droom. More likely a Goldstein version is what we will be seeing.

      --
      |plastic....or gasoline?|
    8. Re:Sweet! by 70Bang · · Score: 1


      The kiosks here in Fishers (Indinapolis), IN, were installed as a trial and removed a couple of weeks later. It was essentially commercial-free and the equivalent of CNN Headline and The Weather Channel. More or less like a doctor's office or waiting area in airports.

      I didn't see any benefit other than perhaps get people to "top off" because they wanted to see the reminder of the story in progress.

      Because I'd made my observation, it was more fun to watch everyone else and see what they were up to, including whether they were staying to top off and stay with a story. Most people put their windows down and chat back & forth, so the "entertainment" factor was ignored, even if something was really hot. (I'm less than a mile from the stations used) by adding a gallon or two and watch people. Most of my friends had the same reaction (I did): people would likely go there because of $0.05 price difference than because they were getting this "Shell game". The kiosks were there for 2-3 weeks and never returned.

  2. One question. by B3ryllium · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Any nudity?

    1. Re:One question. by Fayn · · Score: 0

      Do the girls of DOA count?

      --
      .-.
    2. Re:One question. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The girls of DOAX2 (warning: Flash and pop-up required) are that close to couting, yes. I wish they'd just go all the way and rate it "M" already.

    3. Re:One question. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seriously? Do you really want to see Gordon Freeman nude?

    4. Re:One question. by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      Considering that your player is actually invisible in Half-Life 2, Gordon can't be nude.

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
  3. Voice? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So will Alyx be speaking like Stephen Hawking?

  4. Microsoft Sucks by thelifter · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    This is another desperate attempt by M$ to compete with Linux. My Linux box has been up for 3 years without a reboot while my Windows box has to be restarted all the time. Also, C++ is better than Java. (Generated by the Standard Slashdot Flaimbait Comment Automaton)

    --
    You can make a difference. Donate to The LEEBY (Larry Ellison's Even Bigger Yacht) Fund.
    1. Re:Microsoft Sucks by mentaldingo · · Score: 0

      In Soviet Russia, this post generates Standard Slashdot Meme Comment Automaton.

  5. And in other news... by d474 · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...is me. I have been created. I speak about news. Thank you for watching.

    --
    Authority questions you. Return the favor.
    1. Re:And in other news... by dr_dank · · Score: 1

      and now here's Gordon Freeman with the weekend weather!

      We're expecting partly sunny skies with the slight chance of headcrabs as we get into Saturday. Sunday, better get your railguns ready for the fall folliage! Back to you!

      --
      Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
    2. Re:And in other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I for one, welcome our new news creating automata overlords!!!

      This story assembled for you by scripts.

    3. Re:And in other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      naw, for weather its Al Sleet, your hippy dippy weatherman....
      tonight..... dark, followed in the morning by widely scattered light...

    4. Re:And in other news... by sootman · · Score: 1

      Our top story tonight: Those clowns in congress did it again. What a bunch of clowns.

      --
      Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
  6. i wonder by kevin.fowler · · Score: 2, Funny

    I wonder if it's broadcasting about this story.

    woah META NEWS

    --
    Bury me in mashed potatoes.
    1. Re:i wonder by gt_mattex · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I wonder if the technology develops sufficiently will actual news anchors be worried about their jobs?

      --
      "No doubt one may quote history to support any cause, as the devil quotes scripture." - Learned Hand
    2. Re:i wonder by daeg · · Score: 1

      I just asked one. She laughed. A lot.

    3. Re:i wonder by Silver+Sloth · · Score: 1

      Indeed - we could replace all celebraties with computer generated images. Or, there again, maybe the human touch does add a little something.

      Repeat after me It is better to relate to a human being than to a machine.

      --
      init 11 - for when you need that edge.
    4. Re:i wonder by gt_mattex · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So did a great many factory workers when asked if their jobs could ever be automated by 'machines' run by 'computers'. A great many things seemed unlikely in the past and are common place today. Hell a great many things seemed unlikely 50 years ago what will the next 50 bring? Is automated news anchors that far out of the perspective?

      --
      "No doubt one may quote history to support any cause, as the devil quotes scripture." - Learned Hand
    5. Re:i wonder by nschubach · · Score: 1

      It's better to have relations with a human being than to a machine.

      Damnit! I always screw that up. *smacks self on the forehead*

      --
      Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
    6. Re:i wonder by LindseyJ · · Score: 2, Funny

      DON'T DATE ROBOTS.

    7. Re:i wonder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Don't deprive slashdotters from their only chance to dating.

    8. Re:i wonder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Repeat after me It is better to relate to a human being than to a machine.

      Humans do the same job, only slower, and more annoyingly, than most machines. Machines don't spit in your food, don't try to talk to you when you're in a bad mood, and don't try to tell you to have a nice day in insincere tones.

      Machines don't have foreign accents. They don't randomly go on shooting sprees. They don't get impatient. They don't get grumpy. They just sit there, and do their job, regardless of the day they're having or the day you're having.

      Most people aren't worth relating to. For those that are, we have "free time". For business purposes, give me a machine any day. They'll get the job done right; or at least won't give me attitude if they don't.

    9. Re:i wonder by Silver+Sloth · · Score: 2, Informative
      Most people aren't worth relating to
      When the scared little boy comes out from behind that wall of 'superiority' that he has put in front of him he'll find that people, all people, is what it's all about.
      --
      init 11 - for when you need that edge.
    10. Re:i wonder by DragonWriter · · Score: 1
      Indeed - we could replace all celebraties with computer generated images. Or, there again, maybe the human touch does add a little something.

      Repeat after me It is better to relate to a human being than to a machine.


      The fetishization of the carefully crafted artificial media image of celebrities is not, in any meaningful way, relating to a human being.

  7. I love the idea by Thansal · · Score: 2, Insightful

    However, Ihave to admit that it would just be FAR to tempting to do a google bomb style prank with this.

    1) Generate a number of silly write ups/pictures/videos
    2) Wait around for a tempting news article (dubbya saying something inflamitory)
    3) Post all of your existing junk with titles that relate to the news piece
    4) ?????
    5) Laugh as they get included! (err, I mean profit, right)

    Oh, and on a side note, I thought that HL2 characters could be fed lines and they would automaticly speak them as well as forming the proper mouth movements....

    --
    Do Or Do Not, There Is No Spoon, There Is Only Zuul. Everything in the above post is probably opinion.
    1. Re:I love the idea by recordMyRides · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Or, just wait for it to screw up on its own. Fark, Digg, Reddit, Slashdot, etc pick it up, broadcasting the results to millions! A few days ago, Google news featured a story about Jessica Simpson. The picture it included with the story was a topless photoshoped image. A similar screw up from something like this could be epic!

      --
      Track and chart data from your bike computer.
    2. Re:I love the idea by Ford+Prefect · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Oh, and on a side note, I thought that HL2 characters could be fed lines and they would automaticly speak them as well as forming the proper mouth movements....

      Not really - the game uses recorded speech files (from flesh-and-blood voice actors) which are then run through various external tools to extract phonemes and visemes.

      I remember seeing someone's HL2-related work on text-to-speech a while back - it appears to be the same system being used for this News at Seven thingy. One nifty feature:

      There also exists C++ code to produce lip-synched speech truly on the fly, which is then spoken externally, but concurrently with, the HL2 engine. Essentially, there is a function in the codebase that takes a string to say, speaks the string through the TTS engine, and lipsyncs the actors' lips as the text is being spoken. With this technique, for example, you could have a cute multiplayer mod where any messages sent textually are actually pronounced on the other clients' machines.

      --
      Tedious Bloggy Stuff - hooray?
    3. Re:I love the idea by garcia · · Score: 1

      However, I have to admit that it would just be FAR to tempting to do a google bomb style prank with this.

      You would probably have to have a site that is being spidered by news.google.com (which is very possible if you have a relevant news blog) or you would have to have a pre-existing site with a good article history.

      Personally, I don't think it would be worth the time and effort to get it all up there just to have a robot read off something stupid about the President. Hell, we don't need an avatar to do it -- he does it himself almost daily.

    4. Re:I love the idea by Thansal · · Score: 1

      Nah, I wasn't even looking for specifics, I was just hoping for inclussions of random Flying monkies, exploding toilets, and other such simple minded pleasures (nothing malicious, just silly)

      --
      Do Or Do Not, There Is No Spoon, There Is Only Zuul. Everything in the above post is probably opinion.
    5. Re:I love the idea by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 1
      Wouldn't it just be easier and less time consuming to mock up your own fake story in HL2 and AfterEffects?

      --
      Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
  8. Skeptical by geekmansworld · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Isn't this the basically the same thing as Ananova? And didn't that come out, like, 6 years ago? I am skeptical. News anchors, don't start looking for a new job just yet.

    1. Re:Skeptical by peragrin · · Score: 2, Funny

      well Ananova is British, and therefore it doesn't count until the Americans do it. Caus our president says we be better.

      Note I love ananova. The selection of news stories there is the simply the best. You can read about the strangest stuff on there.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    2. Re:Skeptical by kinglink · · Score: 1

      Unfortunatly I never saw her in action. At the same time however, from wikipedia they claim she's been out of contact for 2 years? So perhaps it's time she returns or we get Alyx!

      Honestly this does sound interesting. But I'm still not sure how useful it'll be in the end. If they had speech generation tacked on it's be a pure win. But synthesized speech has been completely crap for years, we might be getting closer but I'd much rather watch something like nude news, than a poorly synthesized voice. Only because it has higher entertainment values.

      But if they could hit the synthesizer just right and make it sound completely natural, this could be a valuable technology. Imagine booting up your Wii and one morning, instead of the weather forcast, you get a gamer news story with this technology. Might not be too shabby for the future.

    3. Re:Skeptical by LostCluster · · Score: 2, Informative

      Ananova was an automated presentation system, but she/it read from scripts generated by humans.

    4. Re:Skeptical by Rogerborg · · Score: 1

      Only in the sense that all news stories are initially written by humans. The stories were also selected by humans, but the generation of the presentation was entirely automated, with no hand editing of the content. She even attempted to guess at the tone and emotional context of each story by examining the content. Ananova was a superb piece of work, and it's astonishing that the technology has been Gulaged.

      --
      If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
    5. Re:Skeptical by Rogerborg · · Score: 1

      Tell me about it. I bailed from the company that developed her shortly before development started, but kept in touch with the guys that developed her. I was really impressed with the technology; the creation of the video from a story was entirely automated, even down to guesstimation of the appropriate tone and emotions from the content. It was a fine piece of work, and a damn shame that they sold it (exclusive rights) for so little to a purchaser that lost interest and discarded the technology.

      --
      If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
    6. Re:Skeptical by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And how is this different from every other newsroom in the country? 75% of them will read whatever is put in front of them, exactly as it is written, whether it makes sense or not. There's a reason news anchors are referred to as "talking heads".

    7. Re:Skeptical by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      I thought our president said that Britain was part of the us!

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
  9. we want real people by ezh · · Score: 1

    reading things out loud is not a problem. the problem is that nobody will be watching a robot. people want people. for the same reason nobody would watch formula-1 or nascar if cars were driven by robots, the same reason makes slashdot and digg much more popular than google news tech.

    1. Re:we want real people by SuperStretchy · · Score: 1

      No, actually I would rather watch Alyx than any of the anchors on today with one caveat- no lame jokes.

    2. Re:we want real people by DumbSwede · · Score: 1

      I read Google News a lot.

      I would watch robot races.

      Millions have watched the Mars rover robots.

      This is just a different flavor of something to find interest in, not something to displace all else.

      Initially this will have some interest due to the novelty, it will wane some and perhaps even die, but something like it will eventually work well enough and hold interest with enough people to be viable, especially if it custom tailored the news for you.

      If and when AIs eventually become powerful enough, the majority of our daily discourse will probably be with them. Don't think so? How many people talk to their pets?

      --
      Letter To Iran
    3. Re:we want real people by deevnil · · Score: 1

      because human newscasters are so realistic looking and acting...

  10. News ain't what it used to be by Toby+The+Economist · · Score: 2, Insightful

    No matter how it's presented, what's being presented isn't news.

    News is properly defined as functional information.

    However, in our day and age, where television *is* our culture, the definition of news is *news as seen on TV* - and news on TV, like everything passed through that medium, is converted into entertainment.

    And that's why we no longer have a meaningful public discourse; news, news everywhere, and not a functional fact to think about.

    1. Re:News ain't what it used to be by mrraven · · Score: 1

      Ding, ding, ding news is a real live human being who knows history, culture, science and politics deciding what is relevant and providing context and background information to the bare facts. This is the worst sort of use of technology akin to new speak in 1984 that makes us all a little less intelligent and insightful the farther it progresses. So mod parent up!

      --
      Tired of all the isms, don't exploit people as an employer, or a government, mmmmK?
    2. Re:News ain't what it used to be by TheCrayfish · · Score: 1

      news, news everywhere, and not a functional fact to think about

      That is, unless you read Slashdot and change your preferences to mod Insightful and Informative comments +2.

      --

      The Big News Page
    3. Re:News ain't what it used to be by Skadet · · Score: 1

      or radio.

      --
      Sony ha
  11. Next development by VEGETA_GT · · Score: 1

    We are pleased to anounce the NudeNews version avatar's, which well keep you upto date and happy at all times

  12. G4 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Imagine being able to get a literal, in-game review. Better yet, imagine what it could do for broadcasting game tournaments.

    G4 could *really* use something like this. It would also be a considerable upgrade to their present cadre of show hosts.

  13. Thank God ! by MarkKnopfler · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Soon, we can rename The O'Reilly factor as Tomb Raider and replace that bald CGI character with Lara Croft !

  14. This is double-plus good! by alex_vegas · · Score: 1

    that's all

    1. Re:This is double-plus good! by mrraven · · Score: 1

      I agree Orwellian. If our so called intelligent slashdot readers can't see that this would be the death of investigative journalism and long form news that makes us think about world events deeply then we are all in serious trouble. Hint the reason U.S. politics is so screwed up and yes in both major parties is shallow bumper sticker slogan politics. If all news is "headline" news this will only get worse.

      If we still had a 4th estate that practiced long form investigative journalism and really dug for facts there might be 650,000 more people alive in Iraq right now. Something to think about...

      --
      Tired of all the isms, don't exploit people as an employer, or a government, mmmmK?
    2. Re:This is double-plus good! by Dragonslicer · · Score: 1

      So how would the CGI reporters be any different from the human reporters we have now?

    3. Re:This is double-plus good! by mrraven · · Score: 1

      It's not so much the cgi reporters I object to as the automatic compilation of the news. Selecting and compiling a serious investigative news report requires a lot of human nuance and judgment to construct a narrative that AI algorithms simply don't poses yet.

      Having said that though I think anything that leads to more dehumanization and less authentic human stories is double plus bad. IMO we ought to use technology to communicate and enhance our humanity through a better understanding of science, literature, history, music, etc. To use technology to move towards becoming a soulless borg is the nightmare sci-fi dystopias like Neuromancer warned us of, was anyone listening? Hint Gibson typed his manuscript on a manual typewriter and saw his vision of the future as dystopian not desirable, automatically selected news read by lego looking soulless non humans is I think the first baby steps towards that dystopia.

      --
      Tired of all the isms, don't exploit people as an employer, or a government, mmmmK?
    4. Re:This is double-plus good! by DragonWriter · · Score: 1
      Selecting and compiling a serious investigative news report requires a lot of human nuance and judgment
      Which is why even the "serious", notionally human news media rarely does much of it, anymore; least of all the TV news folks.
    5. Re:This is double-plus good! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      double plus bad


      That's double-plus ungood
    6. Re:This is double-plus good! by mrraven · · Score: 1

      Yes this would make it even worse though which is why I find it alarming. Lets put our techie skills into streaming community access t.v., community radio, serious investigative journalism, etc. Youtube I think is hopeful, this just scares me.

      --
      Tired of all the isms, don't exploit people as an employer, or a government, mmmmK?
  15. Huh? by Phs2501 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Shades of Ananova...

    1. Re:Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, it was definitely Lara Croft who wore the shades.

  16. Just freaking great... by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

    "Technorati and Google Blog Search are also used find opinionated blog posts related to the topic of the broadcast. "The software looks for words and phrases indicative of emotional impact,"

    Gee thinks.

    --
    See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
  17. Really neat, but not useful by Control+Group · · Score: 1

    This is, without a doubt, spectacularly cool. I certainly won't deny it.

    BUT

    I really doubt if this (or something like it) will ever play a significant role in the way news is disseminated.

    Given the medium of television, news shows play a logical role. Since TV is a one-way, one-speed presentation medium, news shows perform the role of deciding what you want to find out about, and presenting the information in the format(s) you most want.

    How effective they are at filling this role is a different question, of course, but that's the role they fill.

    The web, however, is a completely different animal. It's a two-way, any-speed medium. Various formats have evolved to take advantage of this, allowing users to select the information they're interested in (often by selecting sources which provide more interesting news than not, with the ability to skip news that falls under "not"), along with selecting what kind of information (text, sound, video) they want to see.

    Given these abilities (already provided by a multitude of news sources, among them the sources this project is using), does a news anchor - even one named Dr. Gordan Freeman - serve any real function beyond "hey, that's kind of nifty?"

    I doubt it. But I kind of hope I'm wrong, because it really is kind of nifty.

    --

    Reality has a conservative bias: it conserves mass, energy, momentum...
  18. CBS Already Has An Animated Anchor by Cr0w+T.+Trollbot · · Score: 1
    It's called "Katie Couric 2.0."

    Now if only they could find a way for viewers to dial down the "Perky" setting...

    Crow T. Trollbot

  19. Take care in choosing the software! by rts008 · · Score: 1

    "Dear aunt, let's set so double the killer delete select all!!"

    What kind of youtube and flickr files would this one suggest?

    I guess next we will have anchorman gangfights (remember the movie "Anchorman"?) in the MMORPG's- gangs of angry anchorman avitars running around looking for those guys that are taking their jobs.

    That could even be made into an Anchorman MMORPG in it's own right!

    --
    Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
    1. Re:Take care in choosing the software! by SuperStretchy · · Score: 1

      Now thats a battle to think about.. Lara Croft vs. Alyx

  20. So you're saying... by Sgt_Jake · · Score: 1

    That news today ISN'T delivered by plastic coated manufactured imitations of human beings? Well, there's nothing I look forward to more than getting my news from Cartoons. At least it'll be honest deception.

  21. I can see it already... by Control+Group · · Score: 3, Funny

    This just in!

    "They're waiting for you, Gordon - in the test chamber."

    Cutscene at 11.

    --

    Reality has a conservative bias: it conserves mass, energy, momentum...
    1. Re:I can see it already... by nuzak · · Score: 1

      Dr Breen would actually be a pretty good voice for the news. Now imagine the G-Man reading it. Brrr.

      --
      Done with slashdot, done with nerds, getting a life.
  22. This is NOT Machinima by sYn+pHrEAk · · Score: 1

    Machinima is 3D animation in which the characters are/were controlled by humans during recording.

    If the "News Anchor" is completely automated, this is not considered Machinima.

    </tech jargon nazi>

    1. Re:This is NOT Machinima by Rude+Turnip · · Score: 1

      Do you really want to see Leroy Jenkins reading the news through his avatar? Actually, I do.

      --
      Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
    2. Re:This is NOT Machinima by Mattintosh · · Score: 1, Funny
      A guy I work with sent this to me a few months ago.

      America: OK guys, Hezbollah has given us a lot of trouble in the past, uh does anybody need anything off these guys or can we ignore them?
      Britain: Uhh, I think Israel needs something from this guy.
      America: Oh, does he need those kidnapped soldiers? Doesn't - isn't he gonna try to work something out?
      Britain: Yeah, but that will help him look better, he'll have more credibility.
      America: [sighs] Christ. OK, uhh well what we'll do, I'll run in first, uh gather up all the soldiers, we can kinda just, ya know blast them all down with artillery. Um, I will use shock and awe, to kinda scatter'em, so we don't have to fight a whole bunch of them at once. Uhh, when my shocks are done, uhh, I'll need Poland to come in and drop his shock too, uh so we can keep them scattered and not have to fight too many. Um, when his is done, Norway of course will need to run in and do the same thing. Uhh, we're gonna need cover for our jets, uhh so they can, uhh, bomb, uh so we can of course get them down fast, cause we're bringing all these guys, I mean, we'll be in trouble if we don't take them down quick. Uhh I think this is a pretty good plan, we should be able to pull it off this time. Uhh, what do you think Britain? Can you give me a number crunch real quick?
      Britain: Uhhh.. yeah gimme a sec... I'm coming up with thirty-two point three three, repeating of course, percentage, of survival.
      America: That's a lot better than we usually do, uhh, alright, you think we're ready guys? [interrupted]
      Israel: All right chums, I'm back! Let's do this! LEEROOOOOOOY JEEENKIIIIIINSSS!!! [runs into Lebanon]

      -Short pause-

      Spain: [incredulous] ... Oh my God he just ran in. [runs in]
      Italy: Save him!
      America: Oh jeez, stick to the plan.
      Spain: Oh jeez, let's go, let's go! [follows]
      Britain [laughing]: Stick to the plan chums!
      America: Stick to the plan!
      Spain: Oh jeez, oh fark.
      Australia: Gimme some cover, hurry up.
      America: Shoutin'!
      Australia: It's saying I can't cast! I can't move, am I lagging, guys?
      Japan: I can't move!
      Spain: What the--what the hell?
      Japan: I can't bomb!
      Spain: Oh my God...
      Britain: The terrorists just keep respawning! More respawning!!
      Spain: I don't think you can bomb with that shiat on!
      Japan: Oh my God!
      Israel: We got em, we got em!
      South Korea: I got it! I got it! [muffled shouts]
      America: America's down. America's down.
      Spain: Oh my God..
      America: Goddamnit Israel!
      Spain: Goddamnit...
      Britain: Israel you moron! [various put-downs of Israel amongst group]
      Italy: I'm on it.
      Ukraine: It's on Ukraine.
      America: This is ridiculous.
      Spain: I'm down, Spain down. Goddamnit.
      Ukraine: Ukraine is down.
      Britain: This is the somethingth time we've died on this, God!
      Britain: Japan, rez us! Japan, rez us!
      America: Why do you do this shiat Israel?
      Japan: I'm trying!
      Israel [crying]: It's not my fault!
      Spain [noticing everybody is dead]: ... Oh God...
      America + Others: Oh for - [sighs] Great job!
      Britain: Leeroy, you are just stupid as hell.
      Japan: Nimrod.

      Israel: ... 'Least I have revenge.
    3. Re:This is NOT Machinima by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Machinima [wikipedia.org] is 3D animation in which the characters are/were controlled by humans during recording. If the "News Anchor" is completely automated, this is not considered Machinima.
      But would it be "automatic machinima"?
    4. Re:This is NOT Machinima by InsaneProcessor · · Score: 0

      This is so hoacky that I am not ever going to use something like this. This sucks rusty wellwater.

      --

      Athiesm is a religion like not collecting stamps is a hobby.
    5. Re:This is NOT Machinima by Korvar · · Score: 1

      I would disagree - according to the Wikipedia article you qoute, and the usage I've always seen, it's any film-making using a gaming engine. Yes, it's often done by recording in-game footage with human-controlled characters, but it also covers using, say, Half Life's scripted sequences. This would appear to be effectively creating scripted sequences on the fly, so personally I'd count this as a form of Machinima.

      --
      Korvar the Fox!! www.korvar.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk
  23. It's all in the eyes.. by modi123 · · Score: 1

    I prefer replicants to avatars.

    Cue me up some "Buster Friendly".

  24. I could swear this was posted a while ago here by Walpurgiss · · Score: 1

    But I can't find it using the search. Then again, I never can seem to find past articles with that. But I don't know where else but /. I would have found out about it

    1. Re:I could swear this was posted a while ago here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You saw it on engadget http://www.engadget.com/2006/10/04/virtual-newscas ter-hosts-news-at-seven/

    2. Re:I could swear this was posted a while ago here by Walpurgiss · · Score: 1

      Yep, that's it.

  25. i object by teh_chrizzle · · Score: 1

    i think that 24 hour realtime coverage of paris hilton's reproductive habits is so functional... how else am i going to plan my day? besides, i love watching the 11 o'clock news with my mom and listen to her muse about how the world is going to hell.

    --
    sarcasm:
    -noun
    1. harsh or bitter derision or irony.
  26. Not a great idea by AutopsyReport · · Score: 1

    You only think I guessed wrong - that's what's so funny. I switched characters when your back was turned. Ha-ha, you fool. You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is "Never get involved in a land war in Asia", but only slightly less well known is this: "Never go in against a news anchor, when comedy is on the line.".

    Just one great reason why we need real news anchors.

    --

    For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.

    1. Re:Not a great idea by rts008 · · Score: 1

      Yes, that was a very good example- give her credit for not even batting an eye, just roll smoothly on. LOL!

      Thanks for a well needed chuckle!

      --
      Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
    2. Re:Not a great idea by SuperStretchy · · Score: 1

      Excellent usage of the well altered Princess Bride quote (for those in the dark). Then again, machinima spares us from this: http://newsfromrussia.com/hotspots/2005/09/19/6318 0.html

  27. "Information" without journalists... by jeremie_z_ · · Score: 1

    A sugar-candy coating of technology for everybody to accept receiving information without any kind of processing/verification from journalists !

    Well... get ready for the future !

    1. Re:"Information" without journalists... by ShadowsHawk · · Score: 1

      The media does fact checking? Newpapers might, but these 24 hour news shows always seem to get it wrong.

  28. Not exactly new? by Onyma · · Score: 1

    As commented already... isn't this just a new method for feeding information into Ananova? Doesn't seem like much of a breakthrough to me? Seems Ananova was taken offline though sadly... I rather enjoyed her quirky reporting style.

    --
    Play me online? Well you know that I'll beat you. If I ever meet you I'll "/sbin/shutdown -h now" you. -Weird Al, kinda.
  29. Maybe a good idea, but needs work by 1000101 · · Score: 1

    I just watched the sample video on the North Korean nuke issue. While the researchers' intentions might be good, the application still needs some work for it to be taken seriously. The speech was choppy and broken and I think it will be difficult for them to reproduce personal names accurately. Until a machine can dynamically produce clear, fluid speach, I don't see this taking off.

    1. Re:Maybe a good idea, but needs work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "The speech was choppy and broken and I think it will be difficult for them to reproduce personal names accurately. Until a machine can dynamically produce clear, fluid speach, I don't see this taking off."

      That's simple to deal with. All they need is a second animated character to do sign language for people who are deaf or who cannot understand the synthetic speech.

      Of course, the sign language of this second animated character may not be easily understandable either, so to overcome that problem, the system will provide have textual sub-titles as well.

      Then a Web Services API will be added to the system and somebody will write a program to extract the text-based sub-titles and put them on another web site.

      Then a glitch will cause the system to go into a cyclic loop: from text-based news stories to animated newsanchor to animated sign language interpreter and back to text-based news stories. The result will be the same news articles being repeated every 30 minutes.

      At this point, CNN will sue for patent infringement.

  30. and speaking of Machinima news... by ILL+Clinton · · Score: 1

    Have you seen the machinima gaming news show, Tra5hTa1k? http://trashtalk.illclan.com/

    But seriously, this kind of automated thing baffles me. Even though I'm a machinima director, I'm not sure I would want to watch an animated talking head deliver my news.

    1. Re:and speaking of Machinima news... by DragonWriter · · Score: 1
      But seriously, this kind of automated thing baffles me. Even though I'm a machinima director, I'm not sure I would want to watch an animated talking head deliver my news.


      Can't see how it could possibly be any worse than the talking heads that deliver news on the teevee now.

    2. Re:and speaking of Machinima news... by ILL+Clinton · · Score: 1

      True!

      I guess I'm a poor judge of this stuff since I don't watch any television at all, and if I did, the last thing I would watch is news. I prefer to read my news. And I like getting it from the web so I can pick and choose by headline.

  31. I swear, by guruevi · · Score: 1

    we're getting closer and closer to the mock-up prediction someone made a while ago in a flash movie about Google or something... slightly remember automatically being served news cut out for us.

    --
    Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
  32. Medical breakthrough stuns global community by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    World leaders including Nelson Mandela, Gorbachev and Kim Jong-Il joined in with the Beijing olympic village at expressing profound shock and admiration of a breakthrough medical discovery of epic proportions. Just announced in a peer reviewed journal article co-written by professors at Harvard and MIT, the technological advancement is an exploration and new standard setting of the limits of the human body, with special reference to the lower back. This blog is happy to bring you detailed images that, due to their complexity, will need to be viewed at some length, followed which below you will find a link to a 3D topological video reconstruction of the original 2D imagery where the details of the discovery will be narrated by Jay Leno.

  33. but when can we have sex?! by QAChaos · · Score: 0

    I am just waiting till Dr. Kleiner says that we can have sex!!

  34. 20 Minutes into the Future by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 1

    Finally, something for Max Headroom to beat in the ratings.

    The creepiest part of this watershed is just how much today's political landscape resembles the one covered by "Network 23".

    --

    --
    make install -not war

  35. You mean like Lady Mainframe? by Buddy_DoQ · · Score: 1

    Binary Picture Show has been doing something like this for a while with their Gaming News with Lady Mainframe.

    Granted it's not an automated system, but I can almost guarantee it's much more entertaining.

    --
    -Buddy of DoQ
  36. Google News for the Post-Literate set! by billstewart · · Score: 1

    So they've got a news collector that's like Google News except it tries to rewrite the text into simpler grammar in ways that may be inadvertently funny, and play it as cartoons. If I want funny, I'd much rather see Jon Stewart take the news events and shred them in ways they deserve, and if I want news, I'd rather read it.

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
  37. Old News by Greyfox · · Score: 1

    It's pretty obvious that they've been using anamatronic robots for news anchoring for years! Surely no one here thinks the "news teams" over at Fox or CNN are actually real? They're about as life-like as the robot rat over at Chuck-e-Cheese! Actually the Chuck-e-Cheese rat (And the Cryptkeeper) have a lot more personality. Maybe the 24 hour news network bots were the first generation, prototypes for the more convincing models down at the local kiddie pizza joint...

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

    1. Re:Old News by sgt+scrub · · Score: 1

      It's pretty obvious that they've been using anamatronic robots for news anchoring for years!

      After the Dan Rather animatron went bzzt on the tv you would think so. I thought PBS was going to buy it for salvage but...

      --
      Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.
  38. Maybe not mainstream.......but for personal use? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe this isn't a viable option to replace the news desk on television. But, what about using this in conjunction with a PC operated Smart Home system?

    I would love to have an AI run around the net and tell me about the Slashdot stories I am missing while getting ready in the morning or while I am making breakfast.

    This would be a neat way to make a Smart Home system go to the next level. Call up the AI from your cell and tell it to turn up the thermostat 10 degrees b/c you will be home soon. Get reports from the AI on how much electicity you consumed this month via an accurate reading. Don't get me wrong, many other areas need to advance as well to support this. But I thougt it cool to use as a personal AI interface with my home.

  39. Ananova by J05H · · Score: 1

    Sounds like Ananova with built-in scripting.

    --
    gigantino.tv - Heavy but weighs nothing.
  40. Alyx the ankerwoman. by Borg453b · · Score: 1

    "Todays headline: contraceptive-united's stock took a dive today..

    ..Several sources report that the combine's suppression field is up and running again".

    Weather forecast: Time to hop in those HEV suits people.: We're looking at heavy downfall and some headcrab."

    --

    - Mad, ingenous - they've both left you puzzled -
  41. ObPython by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 1
    words and phrases indicative of emotional impact
    Dear Slashdot,

    As a prolific Slashdotter, I feel I must protest about the previous post. I am nearly sixty and am quite mad, but I do enjoy listening to the Geeks in Space podcasts. If this continues to go on unabated ...Dunkirk... dark days of the war... backs to the wall... Alvar Liddell ... Berlin air lift ... moral upheaval of Profumo case ... young hippies roaming the streets, raping, looting and killing.

    Yours etc., Brigadier Arthur Gormanstrop (Mrs)
    --
    Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
  42. Weather Channel by PagosaSam · · Score: 1

    I could see an automated weather channel working with this. The subject matter is limited which simplies the system. Besides, the human avitars they use now are not much different from computer generated ones anyway.

    --
    :q! Oh crap, not again...
  43. As seen on Marketplace... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Marketplace had a nice (and humorous) segment on this about a week ago.

  44. Already on Steam.... by bopo_the_mofo · · Score: 1
    There's a little known bit of software called Steam, from a small company called VALVe. They frequently update it, and announce weekly news automatically to their small subscriber base.

    ...and the amazing thing is VALVe PUBLICISED & LINKED 'NEWS AT SEVEN' THEMSELVES, ON STEAM, LAST WEEK.

    Arrrghhh.

    Call yourselves nerds? Pah! Surely News at Seven is Old Old Old News at Seven.

  45. Links by martyb · · Score: 3, Informative

    Here are some links for your viewing pleasure:


    news at seven home page

    Video Demonstration of News at Seven - 10/16/06 (.wmv - 24Mb)

    Video Demonstration of News at Seven Celebrity News - 10/16/06 (.wmv - 25Mb)

    Video Demonstration of News at Seven Science News - 10/16/06 (.wmv - 12Mb)

    News at Seven on the ABC News Tonight podcast.

    Video demonstration of News At Seven.
  46. Wake up, Mr. Freeman by ajlitt · · Score: 1

    And welcome to City 17 Morning Show. We have a Vortigaunt here to share his recipe for Frito pie. Later, where there are rockets, there are gunships: caring for your Mechanical Overlords.

  47. No visible nudity... by Channard · · Score: 1

    .. but thanks to Garry's mod, newscaster Alyx Vance is naked below her desk. And being eaten out by Dr Mossman.

    1. Re:No visible nudity... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      screenshot, please.

  48. Animated characters, indeed by CaptDeuce · · Score: 1
    software that automatically generates timely video news bulletins, presented by computer-animated characters...

    Great. As if human on screen news announcers aren't superfluous enough.

    I often think about the Movie Camera Syndrome exhibited at family picnics when I was a kid. Somebody's aunt or cousin pulls out an 8mm movie camera and points it at kids who are talking or playing animately (no pun intended). The kids promptly stop whatever they're doing and look at the camera with a note of slack jawed interest on their faces.

    "Move!" says the camera operator, "this is a movie camera!"

    Kids put stupid grins on their faces but do little else except perhaps some unimaginative clowning around.

    I get the feeling that this is exactly what happened as televised news broadcasts evolved over the years. At first they were little more than an announcer reading the news just like they did on radio. Except this time they wore makeup and dressed a little better. They add a bit of personality, a touch of humanity, but not much more form or content of a kid at a family picnic.

    So what's the point of adding a computer generated avatar? From a geek perspective it's cool but it has little to do with "news".

    Which undoubtedly means it will become wildly popular as people pour their creativity energy into avatars. Download 'em! Collect 'em! Trade 'em!

    I was going to make a point. Maybe it's something like, "avatars? we don' need no stinkin' avatars!". I think we people like Jon Stewart of The Daily Show and Keith Olbermann of Countdown -- they're "value added" announcers. We certainly need them because what's served up on TV "news" programs is largely fluffy repetitious dreck.

    On second thought, maybe avatars are a good idea after all.

    --
    "Where's my other sock?" - A. Einstein
  49. Re:News from Megavac V6 by BadMrMojo · · Score: 1

    Who needs Buster when you already have Talbot Yancy?

  50. Change she read me slashdot? by kabocox · · Score: 1

    All we need is a model to read us slashdot headlines and postings that are about modded high. I think this could work well for some people. I'd rather get my news from anime characters than Peter Jennings. Here is a question what talking head/oracle would you feel most comfortable recieving your news/media format in?

    I hate radio news people that try to funny and interupt the music for their morning programs. I wouldn't really want to listen to slashdot being read to me. I can read faster than I can listen. I can scroll down a page and use tabs to have just the threads that I know that I'm interested in open. I wouldn't mind an actual AI program that was really helpful finding "new" news that I may be interested in. I don't want just another talking head though reading scripted entertainment news to me.

    1. Re:Change she read me slashdot? by grahamsz · · Score: 1

      Pretty mcuh could analzye http://alterslash.org/

  51. An example of what the HL2 engine can do by Kattspya · · Score: 1

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23Gc0pcQWvw

    Here's a music video that showcases the lipsync and emotions that the HL2 engine is capable of.

  52. But what about the BIAS? by Some_Llama · · Score: 3, Funny

    "before passing it to an avatar from Half-Life 2 to read out"

    It won't be long until these "avatars" start biasing the news towards their personal beliefs.. like denegrating head crabs, or constantly slanting the news against Dr. Breen.

    Not to mention the crowbar lobby's already powerful influence...

  53. Try harder by Kadin2048 · · Score: 1

    You forgot to mention Web 2.0, Ruby on Rails, the blogosphere, and whether it will run Linux.

    --
    "Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
  54. The celebrity one is freaking *classic* by drew_kime · · Score: 1

    "Madonna is okay, except for being completely lame."

    "These people are so famous even I know who they are."

    Damn, I wish real anchors talked like this.

    --
    Nope, no sig
  55. Already in production by rlp · · Score: 4, Funny

    CBS has been using this technology for their evening news since September 5th. I think that the virtual presenter is named 'Katie'.

    --
    [Insert pithy quote here]
    1. Re:Already in production by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      CBS News has always had a small "Flash" TV studio which is always kept at the ready in case some earth-shattering event requires a break-in into normal programming. Once when I worked there I was in the main newsroom and I needed to talk to somebody who was in the Flash Studio. So about 4:30 AM I picked up a red telephone marked "Bulletin Phone" because it was the closest phone, and I knew the other end of the phone would ring in the Flash Studio. What I did not know was that the phone was also programmed to ring at the homes of maybe a dozen senior CBS executives. I lasted but a few days thereafter....

  56. DOA engine port by DrYak · · Score: 1

    Countdown before someone port this to the Dead-or-Alive engine :
    3... 2... 1...

    B(.Y.)B I E S !!!

    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
  57. Just what we need less real local coverage by mrraven · · Score: 1

    This is exactly the sort of thing that will lead to more corporate consolidation of the news which is a nightmare. The one working example we have of automated news broadcasting on a wide scale is clear channels automatic radio stations. Guess what happened during hurricane Katrina that's right there were very few small towns with local news coverage. Far from more automatic news we need more local news which requires more feet on the ground not less. Note this is not a jerimad against technology, technology can make local news coverage easier through things like indymedia.org

    See Moyer's PBS special on the dangers of media consolidation.

    http://www.pbs.org/moyers/moyersonamerica/net/neut rality.html

    --
    Tired of all the isms, don't exploit people as an employer, or a government, mmmmK?
  58. Still haven't mastered the automatic camera. by dafragsta · · Score: 1

    Wow, that would've been way better if the camera angles were a little more interesting. Even if the shot would've been tighter and a smaller image space was used. People expect talking heads when watching the news. I think it's a bit unnatural to see a shot that looks like someone holding a camera zoomed all the way out from about 6 feet back. Such a small detail to blow after nailing the much harder technical aspects.

  59. Personal TV Network by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 1

    Excellent! The pieces to turn MythTV into a system to run one's own personal automated TV station are coming together. This is the piece to get aggregated televised news stories for news breaks, breaking news interruptions, and news shows, without the need to enslave offspring.

    --
    Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
  60. Anchors? Blech by Altima(BoB) · · Score: 1

    News anchors, don't start looking for a new job just yet.

    Unless you want to become real journalists.

    Ooohhhh snap!

    Seriously, I think that anchor culture in news is a mistake. Why do we need to see an avatar or person delivering news for it to be trustworthy? I find a lot of the plastic talking heads on television news decidedly untrustworthy, as more care seems to have gone into diction than thought, and their veneer of omnipotence vanishes once the teleprompter breaks.

    I've lived in both the US and Ireland, and while the US is far worse in this area, both sides of the pond have this issue. Anyone in Europe or American visiting Europe should check out a station called "Euronews" (Dont worry, it covers mainly international news, so it's not too Euro-centric) which lacks an anchor, has a really boring voiceover delivering the news (which to me is more effective at conveying information) and has a remarkable segment every half hour called "No Comment," wherein they show five or so minutes of footage from a portion of the world important to the day's news, like baghdad, but no one talks over it. The sound you hear is the sound from the source footage. There's really absolutely nothing like it in American news, and it's desperately needed I think.

    --
    Yup...
  61. But... by BozoForPresident · · Score: 1

    I thought automatic machinima had already revolutionized current affairs broadcasting??

  62. It would be much better if they Used Halo by jameskojiro · · Score: 0

    And they Used voices from Red Vs. Blue.

    Church: Hi, I am Church from the popular web series Red vs. Blue, here to deliver the news to you. We are goign live to Sarge with his Guest Martha Stewart.

    Sarge: Here we have a rundown TV Host, but today we are going to show you how with a few simple modifications you can make an attractive Corpse.

    BOOM (click-click)

    Sarge: It's a Good thing!

    --
    Tsukasa: All I really want, is to be left alone...
  63. Tonight's top story by Joel+from+Sydney · · Score: 1

    HELLO WORLD

  64. Melissa Theuriau by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I would really like to see them use the french news anchor Melissa Theuriau as the basis of the news reader model.

    http://www.melissa-theuriau.fr/forum/index.php?act =module&module=gallery

    but they should model her voice for the text-to-speech too!