IZUMO and CoeFont team up to release the cross-lingual digital voice of Ailis

4 min readSep 21, 2023

IZUMO and CoeFont team up to release the cross-lingual digital voice of Ailis

AnotherBall, managing a VTuber project in the age of AI “IZUMO” and CoeFont, a provider of Universal AI Voice Platform teamed up to launch the digital voice of IZUMO’s symbolic character, Ailis, to be used with CoeFont’s Cross-Lingual TTS application. VTubers and creators are now able to use Ailis’ digital voice in English, Chinese (Mandarin), and Japanese for free.

Ailis’ Digital Voice

CoeFont Co., Ltd., and AnotherBall Pts. Ltd. announced the release of Ailis’ digital voice to be used with the Cross-Lingual TTS application. The application will allow users to create media with the voice of IZUMO’s symbolic character, Ailis, and is available free of charge in English, Chinese (Mandarin), and Japanese from 8:00 am PST on September 21st, 2023.

AnotherBall, managing a VTuber project in the age of AI “IZUMO”, has teamed up with the CoeFont AI Voice Platform to launch the digital voice of Ailis. The free to use digital voice debuted in September and is available in English, Chinese (Mandarin), and Japanese, allowing VTubers and other creators to increase their global reach. The project was put into motion by tech prodigies and CEOs Shogo Hayakawa of CoeFont and Captain of AnotherBall, who share a love of futuristic technology and Japanese anime culture.

“I have been following IZUMO since its inception and our entire team was excited to collaborate with Captain and the IZUMO team. We wanted to create something which globally supports creators, and making the free digital voice of Ailis to use with our Cross-Lingual TTS application was the right project. We were able to reflect her personality perfectly in this new feature, and I can’t wait to hear feedback from our users.” — CoeFont CEO, Shogo Hayakawa

Both companies share similar philosophies and aspire to create digital spaces for creators to thrive. Captain stated

“It’s important for us to create a safe haven for our community to embrace their true selves, build confidence, and showcase their creativity, as well as to help creators generate a sustainable income from their passions. Working with CoeFont, who share our values and beliefs, was a natural choice.”

What is VTubing and why is it gaining traction?

VTubing, short for virtual YouTubing, involves creating and streaming videos using a virtual character. In recent years, VTubers like Kizuna Ai and Gawr Gura have achieved huge success with their virtual avatars. Using an avatar can be liberating for many people. For some, creating an alter-ego gives them the freedom to fully express themselves confidently and creatively. For others, it offers a way to produce videos without the fear of ageism or sexism, which have been a problem in the gaming community.

About Ailis

Ailis is a symbolic character of IZUMO. She is a humanoid singing android with the mission of “connecting the world.” IZUMO has offered a set of her avatar assets to the public free of charge for both commercial and non-commercial use. Ailis has also operated AI bot on X (https://twitter.com/Ailisbot) and AITuber (AI VTuber) on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@IZUMOofficial) where she can interact with people directly.

CoeFont’s Digital Voices

CoeFont’s synthesized digital voices were initially created because CEO, Shogo Hayakawa, didn’t like the sound of his own voice. Now, he and his team use a variety of digital voices during internal meetings. The technology not only allows the team to talk with the voice of different characters, but also enables members to speak confidently in different languages. “We mainly speak in English in meetings,” remarked the CEO, “which is why some of our Japanese team members use our cross-lingual text-to-speech application to give presentations in English. We hope our applications help our users to overcome language barriers, and empower them to use their voices, as they have for our team.”

The Ailis cross-lingual TTS is available for users speaking English, Chinese (Mandarin), and Japanese, and is free of charge to all platform members from September 2023.

IZUMO VTuber Project

IZUMO (https://izumo.com) is a VTubing project in the age of AI, operated by AnotherBall Pte. Ltd. The mission of IZUMO is to build a sustainable place where everyone can live as they want to be. The recent initiative in IZUMO is “SAI by IZUMO” (https://sai.izumo.com), a challenge to expand the possibilities of expression through emerging technologies with leading Japanese artists in the entertainment industry. IZUMO has distributed about 300,000 non-transferable digital badges for free, illustrated by legendary artists in the Japanese anime and game industries.

About AnotherBall

AnotherBall is a venture company founded in May 2022, led by Captain, CEO, and Ramen, CTO. The management members are serial entrepreneurs who in the past launched “mamari,” the information-hub website for families, and the multinational VTuber agency called “PRISM Project.” AnotherBall raised 2.2M USD in its angel round from renowned investors in May 2023.

CoeFont AI Voice Platform

CoeFont( https://CoeFont.cloud ) is an innovative AI Voice Platform using the latest AI technology to convert voices into expressive, easy-to-use digital voices which can be used with Text-To-Speech, Voice Changer, and Cross-Lingual TTS. The CoeFont platform provides immediate access to our Voice Hub with over 10,000 diverse digital voices. Whether for training sessions, internal announcements, audiobooks, promotional content, or live during meetings or streaming, these voices are always ready to bring your ideas to life.

About CoeFont

Established in 2020, CoeFont Co., Ltd., registered at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, develops and provides AI-based services. The company is currently focused on AI-based speech synthesis and is developing an ethical and inclusive AI voice platform. CoeFont ( https://CoeFont.cloud), is available in all countries and regions.