Chapter 1031: Jarvis, Get to Work
Chen Mo stepped out of the Matrix gaming pod and put his Matrix glasses back on.
"How did the Mark 3 test flight feel?" Jarvis asked.
Chen Mo walked over to the holographic projection. "Pretty great. Too bad I can only experience it in the virtual world. I can't actually be Iron Man in real life."
Jarvis paused for a moment. "Is there a difference?"
"Hmm..." Chen Mo hesitated. "I guess there isn't much of one."
Chen Mo had always believed that the ultimate purpose of virtual reality technology was to let people do everything they couldn't do in the real world.
If the virtual world was real enough, then what difference did it make whether you were Iron Man in reality or in the virtual world?
Maybe being Iron Man in the virtual world was even better. Even if someone demanded you hand over the Iron Man suit, even if terrorists went out of their way to blow up your mansion, kidnap your assistant, and drag you off to research missiles for them—that was all just part of the plot. It was all fake.
None of it would affect you in real life.
Step into the gaming pod, and you're Iron Man, enjoying all the glory the suit brings without bearing any of the responsibility. Step out of the pod, and you're just an ordinary person, going back to your peaceful little life.
Chen Mo pulled up the design concept drafts for *Iron Man* in his Matrix glasses.
"Jarvis, get to work. Analyze all the characters in the design concept drafts. Search the Thunder Game resource center for suitable scene models, textures, and character models, then adjust them to match the details in the drafts. Arrange for the relevant staff and motion capture actors to perform the motion capture, and generate the corresponding character AI... By the way, when are you AIs going to put motion capture actors out of work?"
Scenes began appearing one by one on the holographic projection ahead. The first scene: the Afghan wilderness. The second: the Los Angeles Stark Industries Expo. The third: Stark's mansion. The fourth: the car chase scene. The fifth: the interior of the private jet...
Jarvis automatically planned the size and scope of each scene, built a basic scene with simple modeling, then searched the Thunder Entertainment art resource library for matching assets to fine-tune and refine the base scene, constantly adding more and more details.
Chen Mo clearly saw the first scene—the Afghan wilderness—rapidly taking shape on the holographic projection.
A flat white plain. The terrain rose and fell into mountains and plains, covered with endless yellow sand and various desert vegetation, plus rocks and dust. Military jeeps were pulled from the resource library, along with a soldier model, which was then adjusted to match the details in the concept drafts. The same soldier model was modified by rewriting facial structures to turn them into different people.
Then came guns, missiles, explosion effects...
"Jarvis? Are you listening to me?" Chen Mo asked again.
Jarvis finally responded. "Sorry, I'm very focused right now. If the facial motion calculations were done entirely by AI, it would take a long time, and the results wouldn't be very good. The best option is to collect a large amount of expression data from motion capture actors through consciousness and motion capture, store it in the resource library, and then use the AI's self-learning capabilities..."
"So it's coming soon. Okay, I got it." Chen Mo cut Jarvis off before he could finish.
Jarvis added, "It's impossible to completely put motion capture actors out of work. AIs like me are strictly confined to the virtual world and have no physical bodies. We can possess human emotions, but we can't make the corresponding expressions. Even with self-learning from human data, it's hard to match the subtlety of real humans."
Chen Mo nodded. "Alright, looks like this ugly capitalist still needs to keep supporting my motion capture team."
He poured himself a cup of coffee, sat down on the sofa, and comfortably watched Jarvis handle the work that should have been done by Chen Mo and the rest of the R&D team.
Scene after scene was completed. Models were being fine-tuned. Motion capture work plans were sent to Chen Mo one after another.
Jarvis had no real-world permissions, so he could only send the motion capture work plans to Chen Mo, who then forwarded them to the motion capture team via his personal email.
"Wow, work has never been this easy."
Chen Mo was watching Jarvis work when he suddenly heard a knock at the door.
"What's up?" Chen Mo asked, looking at Qian Kun as he walked in.
Qian Kun stared at his phone screen. "Uh, boss, did you just send an email to the motion capture team assigning them a new project?"
"Yes." Chen Mo nodded.
Qian Kun looked baffled. "But... where's the design concept draft for this project? The scene and character models? The storyboard? And all the other prep work?"
Chen Mo pointed to the holographic projection beside him. "Right here."
Qian Kun's eyes went wide as he watched the scenes being generated on the holographic projection.
Jarvis was building Stark's underground workshop, including the workbench, TV, sofa, fridge, luxury cars, clutter... The details of the entire scene were constantly being refined.
"...Wow." Qian Kun stared as the scene on the holographic projection quickly finished, then switched to the next one and started building it from scratch.
"Boss, be honest with me. Am I about to lose my job?" Qian Kun said.
Chen Mo chuckled. "No. Your job is something AI can't replace for now."
"That 'for now' really hits hard, boss." Qian Kun complained. "So are the lower-level designers going to lose their jobs?"
Chen Mo shook his head. "No, actually. This thing costs a lot more to build than an ordinary designer."
Qian Kun's mouth twitched. "Emmm... I wonder if the lower-level designers doing the grunt work would be happy or angry to hear that. Turns out they're not irreplaceable because their designs are so brilliant—they're just cheaper."
"Why not look on the bright side?" Chen Mo walked over to the holographic projection. "If this technology can be popularized in the future, everyone could design games with the help of AI, without having to argue with other people... The cost of human communication is very high."
Qian Kun sighed. "Yeah... Then if a designer still can't make a good game, they won't have anyone to blame."
Chen Mo smiled. "Exactly. But... never be afraid of technological progress. Otherwise, humanity can only stagnate."
Qian Kun headed for the door. "I'll go arrange things with the motion capture team. Uh, after this project is done, can I play with this thing?"
Chen Mo nodded. "Of course. I was actually planning to have you and Jarvis handle the next project."
Qian Kun: "...I feel like I've been tricked."