PART VIII — Industry, Companies, and Pioneers

Part VIII shifts from technology and theory to the business and human side of the digital human field, surveying how these systems get built, commercialized, and championed. Chapter 35 covers the practicalities of running a digital human company—productization, the CTO role, transparency and responsible AI, market growth projections, technology-readiness maturity, and operational frameworks like RobOps and LiveOps, alongside the monetization discussions from SIGGRAPH Asia 2019. Chapter 36 profiles the pioneers and visionaries who shaped the space, including Mark Sagar (Soul Machines), Pranav Mistry (NEON/TWO.AI), Ben Goertzel (AGI in virtual worlds), Elon Musk, Marcus Endicott, and Fable Studio. Chapter 37 catalogs the major companies and platforms—from Anthropic and Claude to Google Lively, Microsoft Mesh, Magic Leap's Mica, Apple, Disney, ILM, and various gaming and art-community players—while also touching on the rise of tech nationalism and policy lobbying. Finally, Chapter 38 turns to the industrial and ergonomic applications, examining simulation tools like Siemens Tecnomatix, RAMSIS, and DI-Guy, and the emerging role of human digital twins in the industrial metaverse. Together, the part paints a picture of an industry maturing from research curiosity into a commercial ecosystem with distinct entrepreneurs, corporate strategies, and practical use cases.

PART VIII — Industry, Companies, and Pioneers

Chapter 35. Building a Digital Human Company

• Productizing Digital Humans: A Comprehensive Guide

• The Role of Chief Technology Officer in a Digital Human Company

• Transparency: Building Trust and Ensuring Responsible AI in Digital Human Companies

• The Expanding Market for Digital Humans: Opportunities, Trends and Ethical Considerations

• Global Virtual Humans Market Poised for Exponential Growth

• Maturity of Digital Human Technology: A Journey Through the Technology Readiness Level Scale

• Advancing Digital Humans Towards Singularity-Readiness: Technical Considerations

• Advancing Operational Excellence in Digital Human Technologies through RobOps

• The Role of LiveOps in Multiplayer Game Development

• Virtual Human & Characters, Business and Innovation

Chapter 36. Pioneers and Visionaries

• Mark Sagar, Soul Machines, and the Laboratory for Animate Technologies

• The Evolution of Pranav Mistry's Vision: From Samsung NEON to TWO.AI

• Second Life to SophiaVerse: The Evolution of Ben Goertzel's Vision for AGI in Virtual Worlds

• Ben Goertzel's Exploration of Artificial General Intelligence Development in Second Life

• The Evolution of Elon Musk's AI Journey: From DeepMind Revelation to OpenAI Fallout

• From Dolls to Robots: How a Lifelong Fascination Sparked a Visionary

• The Evolution of Marcus Endicott's Technical Pursuits from 2008–2012

• The Evolution of Fable Studio: Pioneering Virtual Beings and Immersive Storytelling

Chapter 37. Companies and Platforms

• The Rise of Anthropic and Claude: A Journey Towards Safe and Responsible AI

• The Untold Story of Google Lively: Ambition, Innovation, and Lessons Learned

• Microsoft's Journey from AltspaceVR to Microsoft Mesh

• Mica: Magic Leap's Digital Human Pioneering a Blended Reality

• More Than Skin Deep: Apple's Embodiment Agenda and the Promise of Realistic Avatars

• Disney's Involvement with Digital Humans: The Medusa Performance Capture System

• Industrial Light & Magic and the Digital Resurrection of ABBA

• Netmarble's Virtual Human Pursuits Offer Sliver of Optimism Amid Gaming Struggles

• Outfit7: From Mobile Gaming to AI and Education

• The Rise and Fall of Morph3D's Morph Character System: A Unity Asset's Journey

• Pixiv's Origins as an Art Community Powering Virtual Creative Expressions

• The VIRTUAL BEINGS Company: Innovating in Gameplay and AI Technology

• The Virtual Beings Summits: Catalyzing a Community Exploring Our Virtual Future

• The Rise of Tech Nationalism: Palantir, Peter Thiel and Jacob Helberg Lobbying U.S. Policy

Chapter 38. Industrial and Ergonomic Digital Humans

• Siemens Tecnomatix Process Simulate Human: Optimizing Ergonomics & Efficiency in Manufacturing

• Digital Ergonomics Simulation in Product Design: The RAMSIS System

• DI-Guy: Evolution and Impact in the Field of Realistic Human Simulation

• Integrating Digital Human Modeling in Grasshopper for Design and Simulation

• The Industrial Metaverse and the Role of Human Digital Twins

• Human Digital Twins — Essential Drivers of the Industrial Metaverse