CES 2020: Samsung's STAR Labs unveils 'Artificial Human' project Neon; shows human-like emotions, intelligence

STAR Labs 'artificial human' project, Neon, has been the talk of Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2020. However, unlike artificial assistants that are trained to fetch information and answer questions, Neon is just a human companion that not only looks but also behaves like humans.

According to the company's website, Neon is a computationally created virtual being that looks and behaves like a real human, with the ability to show emotions and intelligence.

Neons are not AI assistants, neither an interface to the Internet or a music player. They would act simply as a friend and will be able to speak languages ranging from Spanish to Hindi, from Japanese to English.

Marketed as the first "Artificial Human", it has been designed to learn new skills and form memories and experiences.

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Unlike AI assistants such as Siri, Bixby and Alexa, Neons are not bots that know everything. Instead, they are human-like avatars that can converse and sympathise just like real humans. The name Neon is derived from NEO (new) + humaN, and Star Labs has some ambitious plans for these.

"Neon is like a new kind of life," says STAR Labs CEO Pranav Mistry in the release. "There are millions of species on our planet and we hope to add one more. In the near future, one will be able to license or subscribe to a NEON as a service representative, a financial advisor, a healthcare provider, or a concierge. Over time, NEONs will work as TV anchors, spokespeople, or movie actors; or they can simply be companions and friends," he added.

Claiming them to be virtually real, Neons will exist amongst humans from all walks of life. Neons will be powered by the company's proprietary technology platform called CORE R3 that stands for Reality, Realtime and Responsive.

The CORE R3 is inspired by the rhythmic complexities of nature and extensively trained with how humans look, behave and interact. With CORE R3 the company is introducing lifelike reality that is beyond our normal perception to distinguish.

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And with latencies of less than a few microseconds, it matches and catches up in real-time. To make it responsive,  the human interface has been enabled for interactions with smiles and chit chat.

According to Neon website, The CORE R3 also ensures the integrity of data with state-of-the-art protocols.

However, the company hasn't shared many details on how this software will work.

Officially unveiled at CES at Las Vegas, Neon is being developed at Samsung Technology and Advanced Research Labs (STAR Labs).