The online show, called "News at Seven," uses an automated computer program to comb online news outlets for major stories of the day and to pair them with video and still photos culled from sites like Google Images and YouTube. The newscast is delivered by an avatar -- a digital representation of a person.
In the coming months, users will be able to enter their preferences to create a customized personal newscast based on topics that interest them, with an avatar and background of their choice.
The show is a project of two computer-science graduate students and a professor at Northwestern University's Intelligent Information Laboratory, and was funded with a grant from the National Science Foundation.
Still in its beta stage, the site hasn't begun offering customized options yet, but currently hosts a regular newscast by a virtual woman named "Alex" (pictured). Her voice is soothing, though her electronic delivery can be jerky and halting.
Go to source.Bird Songs
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Magnolia
NewsVine
Furl
Google
Yahoo