[Herald Interview] Toonsquare ventures to open new period for webtoon creation with AI

Fueled by the surge in digital content material consumption through the pandemic, the worldwide webcomic market has seen unprecedented development in recent times, with South Korea, residence to a $1.1 billion webtoon market, cementing its place as a pacesetter on this burgeoning trade.

Leveraging Korea’s unmatched market information and mental property, Seoul-based synthetic intelligence startup Toonsquare, which gives inventive instruments for webcomic creators, is now aiming to increase its international presence, with larger alternatives past Korea, in response to CEO Lee Ho-young.

“We’re presently localizing our service in nations just like the US, France, Japan and Indonesia, the place the webtoon trade is well-established and audiences demand high-quality content material,” mentioned Lee in a latest interview with The Korea Herald on the firm’s southern Seoul workplace.

Based in 2017 by Lee and former Samsung Electronics colleagues — together with Chief Know-how Officer Choi Ho-sup and Chief Monetary Officer Kim Gyu-cheul — as an in-house C-Lab enterprise undertaking, Toonsquare transitioned to a standalone company in 2019. It launched its AI content material creation service, Tooning, the next yr.

Initially aspiring to be a webtoon artist, Lee quickly acknowledged the challenges of balancing inventive work with a full-time job. “It usually takes round 60 hours for an artist to finish a single episode every week. Many collaborate with different artists or studios, however newcomers typically battle. To avoid wasting time, I created a database of reusable photos, which impressed the event of a inventive device for webtoon artists,” he defined.

With growing competitors within the webtoon trade, a easy archiving device was now not enough. “Success typically hinges on the primary episode, which generally has 80 to 90 cuts. New sequence might have as much as 120 cuts within the first episode to seize viewers consideration,” Lee famous.

By integrating AI, Toonsquare has enhanced effectivity, evolving from a fundamental machine studying device to stylish generative AI expertise that helps customers rework their concepts into webcomics. The corporate now provides 4 core companies underneath the Tooning model: Tooning Editor, Tooning Magic, Tooning Board and Tooning GPT, every supporting creators at completely different phases of content material creation.

Tooning Editor, specifically, has gained traction as an academic device amid rising curiosity in AI. “After launching the device, many academics started utilizing it to teach college students about generative AI — its functions and dangers — getting ready them for a future the place this expertise can be essential,” Lee mentioned.

Toonsquare has partnered with faculties and academics to supply a safer surroundings for college students whereas providing a extra handy useful resource to educators and oldsters. At this time, Tooning serves over 500 faculties, 13,000 academics and 225,000 college students.

The schooling expertise sector has opened new alternatives for Toonsquare, with prospects and buyers from Hong Kong, Singapore and the US expressing curiosity in partnerships. In mild of this international consideration, Toonsquare showcased its expertise and companies on the Client Electronics Present 2024 in January and the Amazon Net Companies Innovate On-line Convention in March.

Toonsquare can be engaged on advancing its device for professionals, which is presently in beta, with about 80 p.c of this system accomplished. The corporate is collaborating with native webtoon studios and recruiting worldwide expertise for a world launch.

With ongoing discussions for a number of international offers and investments, Lee anticipates vital partnerships to bolster the corporate’s worldwide presence.

“Localization is vital. Every nation has its distinctive webtoon IP market, and we’d like consultants who perceive native ecosystems and the wants of creators and customers,” Lee defined.

Lee hopes his staff share an curiosity in AI and acknowledge it as a device to reinforce their inventive capabilities.

“On the core, it is the artist who brings the concept. Tooning is designed to extend comfort and effectivity. Our device permits everybody to develop their tales into relatable content material whereas aiming to scale back episode creation time from 60 hours to only six. We sit up for collaborating with international skills who share our imaginative and prescient.”