Connect with us

Technology

NAVER D2SF Invests in 23i, a Virtual Entertainment Startup

Published

on

23i brings strong content planning and production capabilities built around multi-persona virtual artists
Internalized virtual content production technologies including real-time motion capture and toon shaders, enabling high-quality, high-frequency content that builds narratives together with fandomsNAVER D2SF continues to invest across the full spectrum of virtual technologies, exploring potential collaboration opportunities as the global virtual entertainment market grows

SEONGNAM-SI, South Korea, July 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — NAVER D2SF, the corporate venture capital arm of NAVER, has made a new investment in 23i (CEO, Hyungmin Kim), a virtual entertainment startup. As the global virtual entertainment market continues to grow rapidly, particularly in Korea and Japan, NAVER D2SF decided to invest in the team based on its ability to create expanded entertainment IP through strong content production capabilities and an in-house technology pipeline designed to maximize the strengths of virtual artists.

For virtual artists to build lasting fandoms, they need to deliver high-quality content at a high frequency, vividly expressing their talent and personality while offering fresh fan experiences enabled by technology. To address this, 23i has developed its own virtual UX technologies, including real-time motion capture, toon shaders, quadrupedal and flying motion control systems. The company has also built an efficient production workflow that enables a small team to rapidly plan and produce new content.

Based on a deep understanding of the entertainment industry and fandom culture, 23i is developing differentiated content and narratives. Its virtual boy group WE GO-6, unveiled last year, is built around the original concept of a “multi-persona idol,” where each member expresses a distinct persona. Through this approach, the company is expanding the storytelling potential of virtual artists while deepening communication with fans.

“With this investment, we plan to strengthen our content production infrastructure and deliver content with an even higher level of quality,” said Hyungmin Kim, CEO of 23i. “By building our own technology, we aim to create fan-participatory content that has not been possible in the traditional entertainment industry.”

“Virtual entertainment is a market with strong growth potential, going beyond technical implementation to enable artists and fandoms to communicate in entirely new ways,” said Sanghwan Yang, Head of NAVER D2SF. “23i is a team boldly challenging the scalability of the virtual industry, backed by groundbreaking content planning and an excellent production workflow.” He added, “As NAVER D2SF has continued to invest across the full spectrum of virtual technologies, we will also explore potential collaboration opportunities with NAVER’s entertainment businesses and related teams such as Motion Stage.”

NAVER D2SF has consistently invested across the virtual content technology stack, including 3D engines and data, motion capture, and the creation and operation of virtual character IP. Going forward, NAVER D2SF plans to continue discovering and supporting technology startups creating new possibilities in the virtual content market.

About NAVER D2SF

NAVER D2SF is NAVER’s in-house corporate venture arm, supporting sustainable growth by collaborating with startups. Founded in 1999, NAVER has maintained its position as Korea’s leading search engine for over 20 years and operates across commerce, content, fintech, and cloud services. Under the technological vision of D2SF, NAVER is actively developing new technologies and global partnerships to grow as a leading tech company.

To learn more, visit https://d2sf.naver.com

 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/naver-d2sf-invests-in-23i-a-virtual-entertainment-startup-302820915.html

SOURCE NAVER D2SF

Continue Reading

Technology

Wenge AI Launches ScienceOra on Tencent WorkBuddy, Making Specialized Research AI More Accessible

Published

on

By

BEIJING, Oct. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Wenge AI launched ScienceOra, its research and decision-support platform, on Tencent WorkBuddy, making more than 30 specialist research agents and skills available to users. The initial offering supports literature analysis, hypothesis development, study design, modeling and simulation, validation, and research communication. Users can access ScienceOra through WorkBuddy’s app discovery section for support across the research process, from exploring a new field to conducting advanced research and making informed scientific decisions.

ScienceOra is powered by the ScienceOne Scientific Foundation Model, which was developed as part of a Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)-coordinated initiative. Building on that foundation and on Wenge AI’s long-standing work in scientific data, research tools, and decision AI, ScienceOra brings specialized research knowledge, tools, and agent capabilities into one system, extending AI from knowledge retrieval and content generation to the execution of complex research tasks and support for scientific decision-making.

Covering core scenarios across disciplines

Scientific research involves a great deal of specialized work at every stage, from reviewing the literature and formulating hypotheses to designing experiments, analyzing data, validating findings, and publishing papers. Researchers everywhere face the same questions: how to spot valuable leads in a vast body of literature, how to synthesize scientific evidence and carry complex projects forward, and how to make sound scientific judgments between competing options. ScienceOra on WorkBuddy addresses both general research needs and discipline-specific work, organized around three levels of support — getting started, advanced research, and expert decision-making — for users across disciplines and at different stages of their work.

Getting started in research

At the first level, ScienceOra helps researchers turn a mass of information into a structured understanding of a field. Its agents cover academic literature research, comparative literature analysis, in-depth paper analysis, and literature review mapping; its skills cover literature search, multi-paper comparison, and structured close reading. Together they help researchers trace how a field has developed, compare the core arguments and methods of different studies, and identify research gaps. Beyond finding and summarizing literature, the AI can examine the evidence, conclusions, and limitations of different studies around a specific scientific question, offering reference points for further work.

Advanced research

For advanced research, ScienceOra helps researchers move from analyzing existing knowledge to carrying out specialized tasks. It supports evidence synthesis, study design, and domain-specific data analysis in areas such as systematic reviews and meta-analyses, molecular biology and multi-omics, and drug developability assessment.

In drug development, for example, researchers assessing a candidate molecule’s developability can work with specialist agents to plan experiments, molecular modeling, and simulations, then draw on experimental data to explore validation strategies and opportunities for optimization. ScienceOra also offers manuscript editing, manuscript formatting to meet journal requirements, and research slide deck generation, helping researchers organize, communicate, and present their findings.

Expert decisions

To support expert decision-making, ScienceOra helps researchers weigh scientific evidence and evaluate competing options in rice breeding, materials science, drug development, and research evaluation. Its agents include the Yuandao Siyuan AI breeding scientist, a materials characterization and validation scientist, and an alloy thermodynamics and phase-field simulation scientist.

Yuandao Siyuan is a specialized ScienceOra application for rice breeding. The agent is built on the Yuandao Siyuan intelligent breeding platform, jointly developed by the Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Wenge AI, and launched this month at the Yuelu Mountain Laboratory in Changsha. The name pays tribute to hybrid-rice pioneer Yuan Longping and evokes the Chinese saying “When drinking water, remember its source.” Drawing on dedicated breeding resources and a knowledge graph, it supports searches for variety approval records and germplasm resources, pedigree tracing, and the tracing of research literature to its sources.

In new materials development, researchers can draw on X-ray diffraction (XRD) phase analysis, structural characterization, and published evidence to compare candidate materials in terms of properties, structural stability, fabrication costs, and potential risks, informing materials selection and subsequent experimental validation.

For research evaluation, a general-purpose reviewer agent and a range of peer-review simulation skills help assess the quality of a study, including its originality, performance against existing benchmarks, methodological rigor, and experimental design. These capabilities help researchers efficiently identify key scientific questions and promising avenues for innovation, supporting the choice of research topics and the evaluation of technical approaches.

Extending decision AI into research workflows

By combining domain knowledge, scientific data, research tools, and agent capabilities, ScienceOra extends research AI beyond question answering and content generation to complex research tasks and decision support. This brings AI into day-to-day research workflows, helping researchers work more efficiently.

This integration with Tencent WorkBuddy is another step in Wenge AI’s effort to make specialized research AI available to more users. Through the WorkBuddy app ecosystem, ScienceOra brings its agents and skills into everyday workflows, giving researchers, university faculty and students, and other learners more convenient access to research AI tools.

Going forward, Wenge AI will continue to expand ScienceOra’s research capabilities and deepen the integration of decision AI into research settings, making scientific knowledge easier to access, research more efficient, and professional decisions better grounded in evidence.

ScienceOra Website: https://www.scienceone.ai/portal/

Website: https://www.wenge.com/

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/wenge-ai-launches-scienceora-on-tencent-workbuddy-making-specialized-research-ai-more-accessible-302920264.html

SOURCE Wenge AI

Continue Reading

Technology

Visa and Marina Bay Precinct Partners – Marina Bay Sands, UOB and Singapore Tourism Board – Present ‘A Moment to Savour’, Bringing International Restaurant Collaborations to Singapore

Published

on

By

A series of restaurant collaborations across Marina Bay will bring together celebrated culinary talents and restaurants from Singapore and around the world from November 2026 through March 2027

SINGAPORE, Oct. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Visa and the Marina Bay precinct partners – Marina Bay Sands, UOB and Singapore Tourism Board (STB) – today announced ‘A Moment to Savour’, a new premium dining programme showcasing Singapore’s vibrant culinary scene through an exclusive series of restaurant collaborations. Launching under the Visa Destinations platform, the collaborations will run from November 2026 to March 2027, pairing renowned restaurants and chefs, from both Marina Bay and around the world, to create distinctive, limited-time dining experiences in the Marina Bay area.

The programme aims to showcase Singapore’s position as a leading global gastronomy hub, while creating compelling new culinary experiences for both visitors and locals to savour, reflecting the city’s diverse and world-class food scene. This experience will be offered to Visa cardholders globally, with pre-sales available to all UOB Visa cardholders and Visa Infinite cardholders.

‘A Moment to Savour’ is launching in Marina Bay as the precinct brings together the full spectrum of Singapore’s visitor appeal – from iconic attractions and world-class dining to premium shopping and entertainment, making it a natural setting to showcase distinctive culinary experiences that can be enjoyed as part of a broader destination journey.

The series will make its debut at Marina Bay Sands with an exclusive two-night dinner, underscoring the integrated resort’s position as a leading culinary destination and platform for world-class collaborations. The experience will bring together the team from one-Michelin-starred Waku Ghin and two-Michelin-starred MOSU Seoul, helmed by Chef Anh Sung Jae, who also served as a head judge on Netflix’s Culinary Class Wars.  

The full list of dining collaborations over the period include:

November 2026 

Waku Ghin (Marina Bay Sands) and MOSU Seoul, Chef Anh Sung-Jae

December 2026

Jin Ting Wan 金蜓湾 (Marina Bay Sands), Chef Albert Li and Jing Xi Hui (菁禧荟), Chef Du Jianqing

黑珍珠 The Black Pearl (Odeon 333), Chef Dee Chan with seven guest chefs from leading restaurants across China (16-hands collaboration)

Labyrinth (Esplanade Mall), Chef Han Li Guang and Masque, Chef Varun Totlani

 

January 2027

Saint Pierre (One Fullerton), Chef Emmanuel Stroobant and Taian Table, Chef Christiaan Stoop

February 2027

Peach Blossoms (PARKROYAL COLLECTION, Marina Bay, Singapore), Chef Edward Chong with
Nusara, Chef Thitid “Ton” Tassanakajohn and Asia’s Best Pastry Chef 2025, Chef Dej Kewkacha (six-hands collaboration)

March 2027

JAAN by Kirk Westaway (Swissôtel The Stamford Singapore), Chef Kirk Westaway and NOBUO, Chef Nobu Lee

Odette (National Gallery Singapore), Chef Julien Royer and L’air du Temps, Chef San Degeimbre

1887 by André (Raffles Singapore), Chef André Chiang and visiting chef to be confirmed 

UOB Visa cardholders in Singapore and across Southeast Asia will receive exclusive priority presale access to all ‘A Moment to Savour’ dining experiences, followed by a presale for all Visa Infinite cards and general sales for Visa cardholders globally. Bookings for the November and December sessions open from 28 October 2026, with limited seats that are subject to availability.

UOB Reserve and Visa Infinite Presale: 28 October 2026, 10am to 4pmUOB Visa Cards Presale: 28 October 2026, 6pm to 29 October 2026, 10amAll global Visa Infinite Cards Presale: 29 October 2026, 12pm to 30 October 2026, 12pmAll global Visa Cards: From 30 October 2026, 2pm onwards

All timings are in SGT.

With exclusive privileges across hotels, dining and attractions as part of the Marina Bay precinct partnership, UOB cardholders can pair their moments to savour with exceptional entertainment and destination propositions only available in the Bay, extending their adventures beyond the dining table to create unforgettable experiences in the precinct. As Visa’s largest card issuer in Southeast Asia[1], this latest partnership also reinforces UOB’s leadership position in the lifestyle and dining space, while leveraging the Bank’s extensive presence and deep customer base in the region especially among the affluent, to drive inbound tourism into Singapore.

“We recently announced the launch of Visa Destinations Singapore, a platform designed to bring together curated experiences and privileges that help visitors discover more of what the city has to offer,” said Adeline Kim, Group Country Manager for Regional Southeast Asia & SVP, Global Clients, Asia Pacific, Visa. “Presented as part of the initiatives under Visa Destinations, ‘A Moment to Savour’ reflects the importance of creating meaningful experiences around the passions that drive travel. With dining continuing to be a significant area of traveller spend and a powerful reason for people to explore a destination, this programme brings exceptional local and international culinary talent together to celebrate the flavours that make Singapore distinctive and strengthen its appeal as one of the world’s leading culinary destinations.”

“Marina Bay’s potential lies in the collective strength of the partners that contribute to its vibrancy. Through our continued partnership with the Singapore Tourism Board and UOB, and with Visa now joining us to elevate the Bay’s culinary offering, ‘A Moment to Savour’ marks another meaningful step in our shared ambition for the precinct,” said Irene Lin, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Resort Marketing at Marina Bay Sands. “By bringing celebrated local and international culinary talent to the Bay, we hope to create distinctive experiences that inspire visitors to discover Singapore’s dynamic dining scene, while strengthening Marina Bay’s position as a leading lifestyle destination on the global stage.”

“‘A Moment to Savour’ is the latest centrepiece of UOB’s feast of dining propositions, with our cardholders first in line to these eclectic and unprecedented experiences from the pinnacle of the gastronomic world. This collaboration with Visa not only reinforces UOB’s regional leadership in the lifestyle space, it also builds on the longstanding success of the Marina Bay precinct partnership to cement Singapore’s reputation as a seminal tourist destination globally. The programme also showcases our ability to bring together like-minded partners in collaborations that synergise the strengths of all parties to create unique and exceptional experiences for our more than eight million customers that money cannot buy,” said Jacquelyn Tan, Head, Group Personal Financial Services, UOB.

“Singapore has long been celebrated for its extraordinary food culture, and ‘A Moment to Savour’ is a wonderful reflection of what makes our culinary scene truly world-class – the ability to bring together the best of local and international talent in one destination. Programmes like this not only create memorable experiences for visitors and locals but also reinforce Singapore’s position as a destination where the world’s finest culinary experiences converge. We are delighted to partner with Visa, together with our precinct partners Marina Bay Sands and UOB to bring this series to life, and look forward to welcoming food lovers from around the world to the Marina Bay precinct,” said Kenneth Lim, Assistant Chief Executive, Marketing Group, Singapore Tourism Board.

For reservations and more details, visit destinations.visa.com/singapore. Details for the 2027 chef collaborations will be announced at a later date.

[1] Largest card issuer by total billings

 

About Visa

Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, sellers, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at Visa.com.

About UOB

UOB is a leading Asian bank with a global network in Southeast Asia, Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. Operating through our head office in Singapore and banking subsidiaries in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, we have a global network of about 430 branches and offices in 19 markets.

Since its incorporation in 1935, UOB has grown organically and through a series of strategic acquisitions. Today, UOB is rated among the world’s top banks: Aa1 by Moody’s Investors Service and AA- by both S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings.

For more than nine decades, UOB has adopted a customer-centric approach to create long-term value by staying relevant through its enterprising spirit and doing right by its customers. UOB is focused on building the future of ASEAN – for the people and businesses within, and connecting with, ASEAN.

The Bank connects businesses to opportunities in the region with its unparalleled regional footprint and leverages data and insights to innovate and create personalised banking experiences and solutions catering to each customer’s unique needs and evolving preferences. UOB is also committed to help businesses forge a sustainable future, by fostering social inclusiveness, creating positive environmental impact and pursuing economic progress. UOB believes in being a responsible financial services provider and is steadfast in its support of education, children and art, doing right by its communities and stakeholders.

About Marina Bay Sands Pte Ltd

Since its opening in 2010, Marina Bay Sands has stood as an architectural marvel and the crown jewel in Singapore’s skyline. Home to the world’s most spectacular rooftop infinity pool and approximately 1,850 rooms and suites, the integrated resort offers exceptional dining, shopping, meeting and entertainment choices, complete with a year-round calendar of signature events.

Marina Bay Sands is dedicated to being a good corporate citizen to serve its people, communities and environment. It drives social impact through its community engagement programme, Sands Cares, and leads environmental stewardship through its global sustainability programme, Sands ECO360.

For more information, please visit www.marinabaysands.com.

About the Singapore Tourism Board

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is the lead development agency for tourism, one of Singapore’s key economic sectors. Together with industry partners and the community, we shape a dynamic Singapore tourism landscape. We bring the Passion Made Possible brand to life by differentiating Singapore as a vibrant destination that inspires people to share and deepen their passions.

More: www.stb.gov.sg or www.visitsingapore.com   | Follow us: STB LinkedIn, STB Facebook or STB Instagram

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/visa-and-marina-bay-precinct-partners—marina-bay-sands-uob-and-singapore-tourism-board—present-a-moment-to-savour-bringing-international-restaurant-collaborations-to-singapore-302920274.html

SOURCE Visa

Continue Reading

Technology

KaarTech Introduces KEOS to Help Enterprises Scale AI Across Business Operations

Published

on

By

KEOS combines enterprise intelligence and governed AI execution across four offerings: AI-led Transformation, Enterprise AI, Phygital and AI For Growth.

CHENNAI, India, Oct. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — KaarTech today announced KEOS, an operating layer for enterprise intelligence designed to help organisations move beyond isolated AI initiatives and embed intelligence across their business. KEOS connects enterprise systems, knowledge and operational context to help organisations make informed decisions and deploy governed AI agents at scale.

As AI adoption expands, enterprises face a common challenge: disconnected systems and fragmented business knowledge prevent AI from understanding how the organisation works. KEOS addresses this by building a shared understanding of enterprise processes, data and assets, providing the context AI needs to support decisions and execute actions within defined controls.

KEOS brings together enterprise discovery, an ontology and knowledge graph, and a Context Lake that combines enterprise knowledge with operational memory. Together, these capabilities form an Enterprise Digital Twin, a living representation of how the organisation operates. An Agent Factory and Enterprise Agent OS build on this foundation to create, orchestrate and operate governed AI agents.

Ratnakumar Nagarajan, CAIO, KaarTech, said:

“Each part of the business has different requirements, but all need reliable context and clear controls. KEOS provides a common architecture that teams can extend to their domain. They can start with a defined use case, validate how agents perform and expand as they establish value.”

KEOS delivers this vision through four offerings:

AI-led Transformation: Embeds specialised AI agents across the SAP Activate lifecycle, from landscape discovery and AI readiness assessment to migration, testing and ongoing operations. The offering helps organisations accelerate transformation while maintaining visibility and control over agent activity.Enterprise AI: Brings enterprise data, AI infrastructure, security and governance together to support contextual AI across applications and operations. It helps organisations establish AI foundations aligned with their sovereignty, deployment and data requirements.Phygital: Connects physical assets and field operations with AI through sensor, operational and enterprise data. Applications include predictive maintenance, digital twins and connected-worker copilots that support maintenance and safety decisions.AI For Growth: Applies AI across marketing, sales and commercial operations, including forecasting, pricing, customer expansion and aftermarket services. It helps organisations connect fragmented workflows and use business intelligence to identify revenue opportunities and improve execution.

KaarTech supports KEOS adoption through its Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) model, with more than 500 FDEs as of October 2026. The company plans to transition 100% of its employees into FDE roles by March 2027, extending this delivery model across its workforce.

Across these offerings, KEOS connects information from enterprise applications such as ERP, CRM and supply chain systems with operational technology, engineering models, documents and external intelligence. This shared business context allows organisations to extend AI across use cases without rebuilding enterprise understanding for each application.

Governance forms part of the KEOS architecture through a common control plane covering identity, access policies, data privacy, auditability and human approval. Evaluation and observability capabilities support oversight of AI behaviour and operating costs, helping organisations define what AI can access, which actions it can take and when people must remain involved.

Organisations can adopt KEOS within one business domain, establish enterprise understanding and initial governed agents, and then expand across additional workflows. Deployment options include customer-cloud environments, isolated air-gapped environments and region-pinned SaaS, selected according to customer policies and data requirements.

About KaarTech

KaarTech is a global AI-led enterprise transformation firm with more than two decades of experience helping organisations modernise their businesses. With over 3,000 professionals across 15 global locations, KaarTech has delivered more than 3,300 projects for 450+ customers across North America, Europe, APAC and the Middle East. The company helps enterprises embed AI into business processes, improve operations and unlock new growth opportunities, combining enterprise expertise, AI innovation and proven delivery capabilities.

For more information, visit www.kaartech.com.

Contact Details: Shrilaxmi N M | Email: nshrilaxmi@kaartech.com

 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/in/news-releases/kaartech-introduces-keos-to-help-enterprises-scale-ai-across-business-operations-302920284.html

Continue Reading

Trending