Considering Fashion Deepfakes Through Virtual Human "Drip"

Announced by ZOZO Technologies, the virtual human unit "Drip." Last time, we detailed the unique technology that enables the quick and flexible production of virtual humans.

This time, we conducted an interview focusing on the core of this technology, "deepfake." How is deepfake expected to be utilized in the fashion field? Following up from last time, we interviewed Yudai Tamura of ZOZO Technologies MATRIX, who is in charge of the project.

The Growing Utilization of Deepfake

When it comes to deepfake, it's often talked about in the context of malicious uses such as swapping politicians' faces to fabricate political messages or fake pornography. Deepfake itself became widespread after a hacker released it as an open-source project in 2017.

According to Tamura, the technology can be used for both good and evil, and in recent years, favorable uses have particularly emerged in the entertainment field. For instance, it's possible to make a movie actor appear to speak nine languages, which is expected to be useful for multilingual film productions. Utilizing this, it is possible to create a version of a movie where the actors seem to speak Japanese without subtitles.
One widely recognized application is Snapchat's Face Swap feature, which lets users replace their face with someone else's in a photo. Additionally, the service "Zao," which allows users to insert their face into movie or TV footage, also garnered attention. Beyond the entertainment sector, there is anticipation for its application in areas like healthcare.