Various patented technologies are being applied to webtoons, which have become part of popular culture. In this issue, we will look at patents related to webtoons that have become more sensuous and convenient through new technologies.
AI’s song selection that make webtoons more enjoyable.
The first technology is a patent of Naver Webtoon in Korea. Naver
Webtoon has filed and been granted a patent last year that uses artificial
intelligence (AI) to play appropriate background music (BGM) for webtoons. This
is an artificial intelligence technology that plays music that matches the
cartoon you’re currently watching considering the webtoons’ attribute
information and readers’ feedback. It automatically selects the BGM according
to the author's intention and the user's needs.
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| clipartkorea.co.kr |
Looking at the patent for this technology, the process of artificial intelligence playing background music includes the following three steps:
1. Step of
registering property information about the webtoon in connection with at least
one of the entire contents, a specific page, a specific scene, and a specific
object.
2. Step of
searching audio content using attribute information of the cartoon
3. Step of
providing audio content in conjunction with cartoon
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| wipsglobal.com KR10-2478394, Method, system and recording medium for providing sound of internet cartoon content |
If you enjoy music that fits the user's tastes along with webtoon images, empathy and enjoyment of the content will likely increase significantly. In this technology, when AI selects customized music, it takes into account not only the user's personality but also environmental information such as time, season, weather, and location. The goal is to provide optimal BGM that reflects the content and situation of the reader without being uniform or typical.
More precise coloring with artificial neural networks
The second, also patented by Naver Webtoon, is a technology for
correcting colored images using artificial neural networks. With the
advancement of artificial intelligence technology, an image coloring model that
automatically colorizes black-and-white photos into colorful photos has already
been developed. However, the method of coloring images using artificial neural
networks worked similarly to the paint tool, and had the problem of color
bleeding occurring when the boundaries of the image were unclear.
<source: Naver webtoon, AI Painter homepage, https://ai.webtoons.com/ko/painter/howto >
The patent uses the following three processes to create sophisticated coloring without blurring through an artificial neural network.
1. Step of
acquiring a colored image by inputting the sketch image into the first
artificial neural network
2.
Receiving user input data about the targeted area in the colored image
3. Inputting
the sketch image and user input data into a second artificial neural network to
obtain a corrected image with the coloring state of the targeted area changed.
 |
| wipsglobal.com KR10-2022-0152864, Method and apparatus for correcting a colored image using an artificial neural network |
This technology generates virtual user input data to train an
automatic colorization model that mitigates color bleeding. Additionally, among
multiple colored images, it detects the boundary of the image with color bleeding
and the boundary of the image without color bleeding. Then, virtual user input
data is created by comparing the boundaries between the smudged and non-smudged
boundaries, and this is used as learning data. Here, color bleeding is
evaluated more objectively by learning to minimize the difference in border
information between the two images.
Change your sentences (texts) into webtoons (image).
The last technology is the invention of Toon Square, a company
that studies the relationship between AI and contents. This technology, called
Tooning, is an AI webtoon service that turns written sentences into comics. It
automatically creates characters and backgrounds that fit the story expressed
in the sentence into a webtoon.
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| Toon Square's 'Tooning' <source: AVING, Global news network, CHOI, Yewon> |
This technology, currently under patent examination, automatically creates a webtoon including the following steps.
1. Recognizing a sentence and identifying at least one word included in the recognized sentence
2. Identifying the type of punctuation mark located at least one of the start and end points of the recognized sentence.
3. A step of determining whether the sentence is one of a general sentence, a dialogue sentence, and an emotional sentence based on the type of identified punctuation mark.
4. If the sentence is a general sentence, a step of automatically generating a cartoon image based on the words included in the general sentence.
5. If the sentence is a dialogue sentence or an emotion sentence, the step of identifying the subject of the dialogue sentence or emotion sentence
6. Step of inserting dialogue or emotional sentences into the character in the form of a speech bubble.
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| wipsglobal.com KR10-2023-0018027, Apparatus and method for automatically generating cartoon images based on inputted sentences |
As this technology automatically creates cartoon images according
to the sentences entered by the user, it has the effect of allowing even people
without drawing skills to easily obtain the cartoon image they desire. In
addition, this invention has the effect of making the movement of the
character's joints or connection parts natural by creating a bridge in the
blank area at the joint or connection part of the character.
So far, we have looked into patented technologies for webtoons. Webtoons continue to advance with music that matches the story, 2D images becoming 3D, and pictures moving like videos. We are entering an era where non-experts can easily create webtoons as they wish, as not only the expression method but also the production method has evolved. I look forward to more sophisticated and enriched webtoon content to come in the future.
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