NEON
- Open roles
- 0
- Founded
- 2019
- Employees
- N/A
- Offices
- 1
About NEON
NEON was an artificial-human research and development initiative created within Samsung Technology & Advanced Research Labs, known as STAR Labs. Established in 2019 and publicly unveiled at CES in January 2020, the project explored photorealistic digital personas that could converse, display expressions and respond to people in real time. STAR Labs operated within Samsung’s research organization, with an emphasis on developing new computational media and interactive experiences.
The project combined machine learning, computer vision, graphics and behavioral modeling. Its proposed artificial humans were designed to have distinct personalities and support interactions involving contextual memory and emotional responses. These were development goals for synthetic characters intended to become companions, educators, financial assistants, healthcare guides and virtual presenters.
Enterprise applications
NEON’s commercial development focused on integrating conversational avatars into business environments. Its enterprise offering included the View API, intended to bring avatar interactions into mobile applications and web services, and NEON Frame, a life-size vertical display designed for physical installations. These formats supported proposed uses in customer service, banking, retail, hospitality and other settings where an on-screen persona could guide a visitor or customer.
During 2020, the team pursued collaborations involving virtual broadcast personalities and digital banking concierges. Its work brought together character presentation, conversational interaction and the hardware or software interfaces needed to deliver those experiences. The project’s demonstrations and development platforms formed its principal body of work.
Project history
Active development continued through late 2020 and early 2021. According to the supplied historical account, operations ceased in mid-2021 following the departure of its founder from Samsung. Planned consumer offerings, including My NEON and NEON Superstar, were shelved, and the official website became inactive. NEON is therefore presented as a discontinued research initiative rather than an ongoing commercial service.
More about NEON
Founder and historical leadership
Pranav Mistry founded and led the initiative. A computer scientist and former Samsung Corporate Senior Vice President, he was previously associated with SixthSense and Samsung Galaxy Gear. After leaving Samsung in 2021, he established TWO Platforms as a separate venture.
Production architecture
The proprietary Core R3 name stood for Reality, Real-time and Responsive. It handled the visual generation of facial expressions and bodily movement. SPECTRA was designed to govern learning, contextual memory, intelligence and emotional behavior, separating those functions from visual synthesis.
Collaboration model
An October 2020 memorandum of understanding with CJ OliveNetworks targeted joint development of virtual influencers for media and educational broadcasts. The Shinhan Bank collaboration explored avatar-based financial concierges in physical bank branches.
Notable credits
7 creditsOffices
Current and former locations of NEON
- San Jose, California, United States
San Jose office
- Campbell, California, United States
STAR Labs Research & Development Facility
Former officeClosed 2021
About this office
Historical Silicon Valley laboratory serving the NEON team. The saved San Jose location represents this Campbell-area facility; the report states that laboratory operations ceased in mid-2021.
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