As of Wednesday, subscribers have the option to view of Seasons 1 and 2 of “Maxton Hall,” a popular German soap opera. Viewers who choose this option are shown a version of the show in which the original German dialogue has been dubbed into English — and in which the actors’ lips have been digitally altered to approximate the appropriate movements.
The company said it planned to expand the feature to other titles.
“At Prime Video, we’re constantly innovating with new tools that enhance the viewing experience for our customers,” Raf Soltanovich, vice president of technology at Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, said in a statement. “With lip-syncing, we’re creating a more seamless and immersive way for customers to enjoy global content.”
YouTube for videos on its service this year, but Amazon Prime Video is the first major television streamer to do so. Netflix, the largest traditional streaming service, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but that the company had been testing its own version of the technology.
Amazon has previously experimented with using A.I. to translate its film and television properties.
It began last year. After users of the voices created by A.I., the company removed the feature from some titles, although it on others.
While A.I. was used to create the lip-syncing effect in “Maxton Hall,” Amazon said the dubbed audio was created using human performers.