​Samsung To Show Off In-house AI Startups At SXSW

Samsung Electronics will unveil three new projects from its C-Lab program based on artificial intelligence (AI) at the upcoming SXSW 2018 tradeshow, the company has announced.

Toonsquare, Aurora, and Gadget are part of C-Lab, or Creative Lab, the South Korean tech giant's in-house start-up program, and will show off their goods at the tradeshow running from March 11 to 14 at Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas.

Toonsquare is an AI app that automatically converts a sentence into a cartoon. Users can choose a character from pre-sets or create characters based on pictures.

The app analyses text to read emotion and movements implied in the sentence, and then recommends facial expressions and gestures of the character. Backgrounds, fonts, and speech bubbles can be customized to create a cartoon.

Aurora offers a visualized 3D character assistant that interacts with the user by voice and visually on screen. The app also recognises gestures and location of the user through a smartphone camera.

Gadget is a real-time ad auction platform for in-game ads that are not pop-up or interstitial but native objects in the game, like billboards. Ads are sold to advertisers in real-time through a automated trading platform. It is also updated in real-time and targeted.

C-Lab started back in 2012 and has so far fostered over 200 ideas, the company said. Some are incorporated to the company while others spun off as independent firms.

Last April five startups focused on beauty and kids graduated.

In January this year, Samsung showcased three projects, including a smart glass for the visually impaired.

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