The ‘News at Seven’ virtual anchor

You’ve seen some virtual news anchors on the web before, but a project by Northwestern University takes it to the next level. The anchor not only presents the news using a text-to-speech engine, but it collects and edits the news automatically from existing stories on the web. Plus, it displays relevant video and photos synchronized to the newscast. And adds commentary from blogs — all generated dynamically. Yikes! (Watch the video here. Long load time, but worth it). “As we continue to advance its capabilities in finding interesting stories and displaying them in interesting ways, we fully intend to offer a viable replacement to the typical televised news show, tailored to a user’s specific interests,” reads the Northwestern site. Well, it won’t replace TV news anytime soon, but it has a distinct advantage in providing personalized newscasts with up-to-the-minute information. Oh, and no anchor salary to go along with it.

The next-generation anchor. Packing heat, for some reason.