youai

youai
reinvent art

We are a multi-disciplined group of digital professionals who are passionate about creating new AI experiences for you

youai means

friendship, and let that be the first feature that binds us. As a band of former colleagues with a background in Strategy Consulting, Data Science and Start-up Innovation, we believe our friendly vibe contributes to more daring and creative ideas. Maintaining this open mindset remains at the top of our core beliefs and flows through every collaboration we tie on to.

We believe artificial intelligence is a natural fit for enhancing creative expression. Which brings us to the you in youai! Your obstacle may be bold, crazy, undefined, impossible, or even slightly humdrum. We are here to tackle it together with you. Our mission is to create systems that encourage creativity and to shake up the art scene together with you.

Our work

Luther Museum

Martin Luther forever changed Christianity when he nailed his ‘95 Theses’ to a church door in 1517, sparking the Protestant Reformation. The Luther Museum in Amsterdam portrays the journey that Martin took throughout his life. To activate their audience following the world-wide Covid pandemic they wanted to produce a unique marketing campaign bringing Martin back to life. In collaboration with the Luther Museum we produced a so called “living portrait”. With this portrait we have ‘magically’ (well, actually it’s A.I.) blew life into a painting of Martin Luther, which allows him to talk about his achievements in life and the influence he and his followers had on the Netherlands. The museum used several Talking Portraits for their social media campaign and brought Martin closer to their target audience. Want to learn more? Check the museum’s Facebook Page.

Gazelle

To celebrate the launch of their brand-new Experience Center in Dieren, Dutch bike company Gazelle wanted to take visitors on a tour along the rich history of the brand. Who better than founder Willem Kölling to tell this story? For the exposition ‘Gazelle vertelt’ we worked together with De Nieuwe Collectie on two projects. Firstly, we’ve let Willem Kölling welcome visitors and explain to them the origin of Gazelle. This piece is displayed on a large screen positioned in the arrival hall. Secondly, we’ve let Willem speak in a series of clips that are used in Gazelle’s history movie. These clips were constructed using a single photo (> 100 years old) from which were able to bring the whole body of Willem Kölling back to life using the latest advancements in Artificial Intelligence. Willem now greets visitors of the exposition as if he’d never left. Curious? Visit the Gazelle Experience Center.

Slot Zuylen

The year 1672 is widely known as the year of disasters in the Netherlands. An alliance of France, Germany and England made their way across the country, pillaging and burning everything in its path. The Castle ‘Slot Zuylen’ was directly in the line of fire. In the exposition ‘Moord en Brand’ visitors learn how the castle managed to resist the occupiers. Hendrik Jacob van Tuyll van Serooskerken, lord of the castle tells his story as he bargained with the French to save his beloved castle fortress. Through the use of Artificial Intelligence, we took a portrait of Hendrik Jakob, digitally enhanced it, and brought it to life in the Slot Zuylen app. Curious? Download their app: TimeSwitch Slot Zuylen

Kalkhoff

It’s been 100 years since Heinrich Kalkhoff started the Kalkhoff biking company. To commemorate how a 16-year-old mailman started one of Germany’s most well-known biking brands, Kalkhoff asked us to bring Henrich back to life in an explainer video. We used the latest state of the art algorithms to digitally enhance Heinrich’s photos and then applied Artificial Intelligence techniques to enable Heinrich to speak again. Heinrich now tells visitors of the factory and Kalkhoff Brandworld about its rich history and all the innovation that brought them to where they are today. Curious? Visit Kalkhoff’s site.

You and AI

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Concept

We bring art to life using Artificial Intelligence (AI). Just like our brain, AI processes and learns from input from the outside world. More specifically, AI uses algorithms that read recorded data to learn patterns in that data, which it captures in a model. This is also called machine learning. Depending on the purpose of the model, specific algorithms are used.

Youai uses Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) algorithms consisting of two separate neural network algorithms that compete to keep the characteristics of their specific data as much intact as possible.

As a result the different sets of data blend. In the example image this translates to keeping hold of the persons dynamic facial expressions while still maintaining the appearance of the static Luther painting.

Testimonials

Sabine Tol

Chief operating officer, Luther Museum Amsterdam

"Up until recently, I was completely unaware of the possibilities of AI. But that quickly changed when I started working with youai. In a short time they have developed something completely unique for the museum: a lifelike talking portrait. The youai team is creative, committed and groundbreaking. In short: it was an absolute pleasure to work with them."

Team