Royal Caribbean International has designed and built a tool that transforms travelers’ photos into an original, shareable soundtrack with a video to match. The new tool, called SoundSeeker, is a patent-pending digital experience powered by artificial intelligence (AI). The tool is specifically designed to use machine learning to create original soundtracks based on the content of each photograph.
By visiting www.SoundSeeker.com, users can upload three photos of their choice, and the AI analyzes them based on color, landscape, backdrop, emotion, body language, and facial expression. Then, SoundSeeker turns them into a shareable soundtrack.
Royal Caribbean teamed up with individuals from Berklee College of Music, and technologists from around the world, to create the song generator. Berklee leveraged music theory to create a roadmap for the tool that helps determine the musical pairing to photos, accounting for pitch, tempo and instrumental combinations, among others.
The contributors from Berklee’s Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship (BerkleeICE) – an on-campus initiative that promotes entrepreneurialism in part by engaging Berklee students and faculty with emerging creative technologies – included Electronic Production and Design Chair Michael Bierylo, associate professors Ben Hogue and Michael Sweet, and assistant professor Jean-Luc Cohen.
SoundSeeker uses machine learning, an artificial intelligence technique that enables computers to simulate human intelligence and make decisions on their own without explicit instructions. According to Royal Caribbean, the learning process entailed more than 600 hours in which Royal Caribbean and a team of musicians and technologists reviewed hundreds of music tracks along with 10,000 photos, matching each of the 2.5 million combinations to one of 10 moods.
The AI in SoundSeeker uses Google Cloud Vision to identify objects, facial expressions and colors in a user’s photo by referencing the roadmap developed by the leaders in music theory at Berklee. SoundSeeker then finds the musical elements corresponding to each mood in the photo to compose a distinct audio and visual photo album. The Royal Caribbean tool is equipped to generate over one million unique tracks, based on custom base tracks, composed exclusively for the cruise line. The customized tracks take inspiration from a wide variety of music, including 90s hip-hop, rock, modern and electronic dance music.
For more, visit www.royalcaribbean.com.
Related Stories
Royal Caribbean Launches New "Stateroom Planner" Espresso Tool
Royal Caribbean Launches Automated Feature to Reservation System