AI-powered version of Ozzy to appear in city

BBC

A new AI-powered avatar of Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne could make its first UK appearance in Birmingham.

Osbourne’s wife Sharon and son Jack announced plans for the hyper-real version of the Birmingham-born singer at an expo in the US last week.

Talking to Ed James on BBC Radio WM, she said that plans for the avatar were brilliant. “I’ve seen the tests that they’ve done of Ozzy and you can see every pore on his face, his beard’s coming through, it’s that detailed,” she said.

Osbourne died in July aged 76, less than three weeks after he had performed at Villa Park with Black Sabbath.

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Two digital companies, Hyperreal and Proto Hologram, announced they were working on the technology.

The avatar would be able to perform, have conversations with fans and move, speak, and respond as Ozzy would, they said.

It will appear in America and the UK by the end of the summer and Sharon Osbourne said she hoped it would appear in Birmingham first.

“It’s going to go around the world, we’re going to take it around the world, but it has to be in Birmingham first.”

The avatar could do “absolutely everything” and she believed it could appear in concerts, films or adverts.

“You can go and talk to Ozzy and ask him anything you want and he will talk back to you, you can have your photo taken with Ozzy. Ask him anything you want, and he can talk to you.”

“He can tell the audience he loves them. He can just be Ozzy. After you get over the tears, it’s brilliant,” Sharon Osbourne added.

Reuters

In a YouTube video, Jack Osbourne said the avatar was going to be “tasteful”.

He also revealed: “It’s something that I think my dad would be into because we actually talked about it before he passed about doing something like this.”

It has not yet been made clear how the avatar would be used, but he said it could be used as part of an exhibition or similar.

“This is some high-level technology that we’re going to be working with and it’s going to feel very real and it’s kind of wild how it will be utilised,” he said.

Since the death of the former Black Sabbath singer, Sharon Osbourne said her family had found a lot of comfort in the support they had received from fans around the world.

“Grief is a very weird thing and I truly believe it never leaves you, you just have to learn to live with it.”

“It’s been incredible, the outpouring of love for Ozzy.”

She also said Aston Villa’s victory in the Europa League final had been “so joyous” for Birmingham.

“It’s what everyone needed – it unites everybody,” she said.

“It’s relieving to talk about something where you’re a winner.”

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