Virtual newscaster goes on air

Press Association’s virtual newscaster Ananova gets its first airing this week on the Internet.

Designed and developed by Scottish games developer Digital Animation, Ananova is designed to model human facial expressions and will have its face programmed to react to serious or light-hearted news.

Digital Animation is said to have created a programme to isolate every individual muscle of the human face, and anticipates building in artificial intelligence to future designs.

‘Ananova was not designed to replace TV newsreaders. She has been designed for the next generation of mobile interactive devices,’ says Ananova publishing director Mark Hird.

Digital Animation’s prototype was a character called Head, built on the illusion created by Channel 4’s 1980’s TV host Max Headroom.