Digital avatar tools like Synthesia and HeyGen get a lot of attention on social media, simply by the virtue that it is both remarkable and uncanny that you can now create a ‘digital twin’ or avatar version of yourself to present video.
Publishing a digital version of yourself can certainly get a lot of likes, comments and shares, but it’s fairly evident that these are still fairly niche products. However, with the digital avatar market set to grow by a whopping 20x over the next decade, it’s likely that digital twinning will become a lot more mainstream – possibly with a majority of information workers and creators having one by the early 2030s.
Moving out of the uncanny valley
I’ve spoken to quite a few people about creating digital avatars this year – some can immediately see the benefits and want to create one, others are a lot more reticent. The biggest blocker to embracing avatars is that it simply doesn’t feel genuine, which is important for people who create content. A related issue is that digital avatars can look uncanny – not quite on parity with the real thing.
Having done extensive testing of AI avatar tools like Synthesia, HeyGen and (for voice cloning) Eleven Labs, we feel it’s very possible to have a lifelike representation of yourself where people cannot distinguish the difference between the ‘real’ you and your ‘digital twin.’ Within 6-12 months, we predict that these platforms will be able to make entirely lifelike versions, on parity with human presentation. So we will be very much out of the uncanny valley. If you want to know how to make an avatar and for us to guide you through the process, get in touch via our services page.
The huge time saver of business video production
The primary reason for getting a digital twin is to save time. If you want to create quality video, all of the following questions need to be answered ‘yes’:
- Is the camera and subject positioned in the right place?
- Is there a lighting setup?
- Does the background look professional?
- Do you have a good microphone and is it positioned correctly?
- Is the presenter looking at the camera?
It sounds so basic, but it’s actually really hard to get all of this right, and doing so usually takes practice – i.e. time, which thought leaders and business owners don’t really have because they are normally running a business (or a few). Furthermore, each shoot demands that the presenter is in a specific place at a specific time, which is probably the biggest time cost of the entire video process, simply through the need to travel.
Proceeding from the moving parts of post production video has to be edited, assets and subtitles added. Thus a creator operating alone would have to learn how to use Adobe Premiere, and even with proficiency editing a quality 90 second video takes 2 hours. That’s a big time commitment.
Rather than do a bespoke shoot for every video, a digital avatar can do the heavy lifting. You record yourself in a setting (and you can remove the background using an AI tool like Runway), then you have a digital presenter of yourself that can be used for video presentation.
This is extremely cost efficient vs. shooting your own material. Most business video simply doesn’t need that much polish. Wanting professional look is fair enough, but the small audience who may watch the video is not likely going to be tuned into the detail. Avatars can make this all the more efficient.
The practical business use of a digital twin
If you can see the clear time saving benefit of using a digital twin, then thinking about how it can be applied will be the next step.
Social media and content
The first port of call could be social media and content presentation. If you want to produce more quality content for social media, then using a digital avatar could be a great way to do this – and video is generally the number one medium for driving engagement and growth across all major social networks.
Sales materials
Connected to social media (which is basically marketing content) is sales materials. Consider how much more powerful your business development proposition would be if each message had a tailored video to a prospective client. Digital avatars are an extremely powerful enabler in this context – shooting a video per pitch would be impractical, but now it’s possible to slightly tailor your sales script and generate tens of videos per day.
Training material
If you run internal training, then setting up a meeting room and presenting in it (and recording) is a business expense. Even running online seminars requires the presenter to be online at a particular time. This is where digital avatars really come into their own (and really the initial proposition of the digital avatar market). They are incredibly useful for presenting internal training material, with the huge bonus of regenerating the video in almost any language you want.
Internal communications
Finally, internal communications may be more engaged with and understood if a video is available. Not everyone reads every email in full for all sorts of reasons, and having a video can make it more meaningful. Again, doing this using a standard video production process would be unfeasible, but a business leader can save a significant amount of time through using an avatar for company announcements and town halls. They also won’t be stressed by their day being dominated by the need to present!
