Royal Caribbean uses AI to transform vacation photos into music videos

Brief:

Royal Caribbean introduced a software tool that transforms the photos of its cruise ship passengers into original, shareable music videos. SoundSeeker uses machine learning to create original soundtracks based on the content of each photograph, according to a statement.
Users upload three photos of their choice to SoundSeeker.com, and the website's artificial intelligence (AI) technology analyzes them based on color, landscape, body language and facial expression. SoundSeeker turns the images into a 30-second music video that travelers can share with family and friends.
Royal Caribbean teamed up with ad agency MullenLowe, Berklee College of Music and technology developers to create SoundSeeker. The song generator can adjust pitch, tempo and instrumental combinations to produce more than 1 million unique tracks inspired by a variety of styles, including 1990s hip-hop, rock, modern and electronic dance music.

Insight:

Royal Caribbean's SoundSeeker is the latest example of the cruise operator's efforts to embrace technologies that appeal to millennial travelers and their families, per Venture Beat. SoundSeeker addresses how mobile-savvy travelers use their phones to chronicle their vacations and share the experience with friends and family. The company also introduced SeaSeeker, a scuba mask that works with Snapchat Spectacles, and "virtual balconies" that use HD screens to give interior rooms a view. Royal Caribbean's mobile app also allows for expedited arrival and X-ray vision into behind-the-scenes areas of the ship, such as the navigational bridge.

SoundSeeker is part of Royal Caribbean's attempts to appeal to millennials who are seeking experiences they can share on social media. Royal Caribbean spent $120 million to upgrade its Mariner of the Seas cruise ship as part of the $900 million "Royal Amplified" program to renovate 10 ships in four years. The ship includes a Sky Pad bungee trampoline experience that integrates virtual reality (VR) technology, per CNBC.

Royal Caribbean's SoundSeeker technology comes as social media companies like Facebook are trying out new ways to let users add music soundtracks to their videos and photo albums. Facebook two years ago added a feature to its Moments app that let users create a photo montage with music, per The Verge. Facebook-owned Instagram in June added a feature to add popular songs to Stories, which string together photos and videos into a single post, per TechCrunch.