Synthesia 2.0 is designed to be the world first true AI video communications platform for business, featuring new products and services to improve communication across an organisation.

Over the past century, communication and information sharing have evolved significantly with the advent of radio, television, the Internet, and social media. This shift has transformed the medium of communication from text to video and audio. Just over a decade ago, video constituted approximately 30% of Internet traffic; today, it exceeds 82% and continues to grow rapidly. Globally, individuals spend an average of 3 billion hours per day on TikTok, 1 billion hours per day on YouTube, and over 200 million hours per day on Netflix.

Today, most people have switched over to a video-oriented world, with many of us utilising face-to-face calling or video streaming. However, in the workplace, this transition is not as prominent, despite the impact of the pandemic. Business communications still predominantly rely on text, with video usage primarily confined to significant brand moments such as advertisements or keynotes, and daily business interactions like video conferencing.

Synthesia 2.0 aims to address every aspect of the video production pipeline. This platform seeks to provide a powerful and user-friendly solution, enabling businesses to fully embrace a video-first approach and achieve tangible business outcomes.

Personal AI avatars

Synthesia has announced significant advancements in its avatar technology, aiming to improve the quality and capabilities of its AI avatars. The company has set a goal to create the world’s most realistic AI avatars to help augment human capabilities. Last month, Synthesia introduced the world’s first Expressive AI Avatars, powered by its EXPRESS-1 model. These avatars understand their speech and adjust their tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language based on the context of the script.

Many customers have expressed a desire for their own personalised avatar. With the release of Synthesia 2.0, the process of creating a personal avatar has been made easier, and the quality and capabilities have been significantly enhanced. Synthesia 2.0 offers two methods for creating a personal avatar:

• An Expressive Avatar shot in a studio using high-definition cameras for a professional feel.
• A custom avatar in a natural background, using a webcam or phone at home or on the go. These new avatars improve on the existing webcam offering by providing better lip synchronisation and a more natural voice, along with the ability to replicate the user’s voice in over 30 languages.

Synthesia has also provided a glimpse into the future of its AI avatars. Over the past 12 months, the company has captured thousands of people in studios worldwide. This data has been used to train several large video and audio foundation models, which now work in unison to produce incredibly realistic and engaging avatars.

Previously, avatars mainly served as assistants in videos. However, the next generation will feature avatars with personalities capable of telling captivating stories using the full range of human body language, including hand movements. These new AI avatars will be fully controllable, allowing users to specify avatar appearance with images and videos and create animations with skeleton sequences.

AI video assistant

Synthesia has tackled the common issue of "writer’s block" and the fear of the blank page with the introduction of its AI Video Assistant earlier this year. This tool allows users to select a template, write a prompt, upload an existing document or link, specify details such as tone of voice, video length, and audience, and generate a draft of their video with the click of a button.

Since its launch, the AI Video Assistant has been widely adopted by Synthesia's customers, who have provided valuable feedback on how to enhance the tool. One significant request was the ability to incorporate brand identity into the videos. In response, Synthesia announced that this feature will be available next month. Users will be able to automatically create videos with their brand elements, such as typography, colours, and logos, ensuring a consistent look and feel across all videos.

During a recent conversation with a customer, Synthesia learned that the customer had hundreds of help articles they wished to convert into videos. This conversion would help their customers find answers more easily and save resources for their customer service team. To address this need, Synthesia is developing a bulk video creation feature for its AI Video Assistant. Soon, users will be able to select a template, provide a link to their knowledge centre, and have the AI Video Assistant transform the articles into high-quality videos.

The new AI screen recorder

Synthesia has identified that most video editing tools are designed for professionals or require extensive training. To address this, Synthesia has simplified the editing process without compromising flexibility. According to the company, 9 out of 10 users can create their first video in less than ten minutes, even without prior experience.

This simplification was achieved by replacing the traditional video timeline with simple triggers that can be controlled directly from the script. This change places the script at the heart of the story, allowing users to animate video elements and make edits in an intuitive manner. It also simplifies scene content generation, creating a user-friendly editing experience.

Additionally, Synthesia learned that many customers need to include screen-recorded content in their videos but find the process complicated. Traditionally, this task involves using multiple tools to capture the screen, edit the recording, match the voiceover, and start over if updates are needed.

Synthesia aims to offer a better solution with its upcoming AI Screen Recorder. This tool will streamline the process by allowing users to create step-by-step guides, such as how to book time off through an online HR system, directly within Synthesia. Once the recording is complete, the video will be immediately available for editing, with the voiceover transcribed and perfectly matched to the screen capture. Automatic zoom effects will emphasise key actions.

Users will be able to edit the script, trim the video, and add their own avatar and voice for a personalised touch. The result will be a sleek, high-quality video that can be easily updated.

The new dynamic video player

Out of 4.2 billion internet users, only about 25% are English speakers. In a globally distributed workforce and customer base, adapting communication to local languages and cultures is not just an option but a significant business opportunity.

Translations are often a complex process that can take weeks or even months, causing delays in important communications and increasing costs. About a year ago, Synthesia introduced the 1-click translations feature, enabling automatic translation of videos into over 120 languages with a single click.

Although this feature brought substantial productivity gains for customers, they still faced the challenge of managing, maintaining, and sharing multiple files. To address this, Synthesia has introduced an updated translation experience. Users can now create one version of their video, translate it into any desired language, and easily update all language versions by making changes to the original version.

Synthesia is also developing a new type of video player, aimed at enabling a new generation of interactive, personalised, and engaging video experiences. The first feature, launching next month, will automatically play shared videos in the viewer's language, enhancing the translation capabilities.

Later in the year, Synthesia plans to launch a suite of interactive capabilities for its player. Users will be able to create rich video experiences with features such as clickable hotspots, embedded forms, quizzes, and personalised call-to-actions. These capabilities are expected to make videos more engaging, drive higher viewer interaction, and unlock use cases that are currently impossible.

AI safety first

Synthesia recognises the power of generative AI and has observed its potential misuse in the hands of companies or individuals who do not prioritise responsible AI use. From the outset, Synthesia has integrated AI safety as a core component of its product development and business growth. More details on their approach to responsible AI are available here. This commitment ensures that customers can confidently utilise Synthesia's advanced AI capabilities while maintaining ethical and legal standards.

As a result of these early investments, Synthesia will soon become the first AI company globally to achieve ISO/IEC 42001 certification. This standard is the world’s first for AI management, offering a structured approach to managing the risks and opportunities associated with AI, thereby balancing innovation with governance.

Synthesia are excited to welcome new members to its platform, to find out more visit www.synthesia.io/2.