History, Emotion, and a Bit of AI: How Two Campus X Members Brought Bulgaria’s Past to Life

There’s something quietly powerful about watching a historical figure speak. Not in a textbook. Not in black-and-white. But in full voice — animated, emotional, and eerily real.

That was the goal. And at Campus X, it began with a simple conversation.

“We were at an event,” remembers Stefan Grigorov, founder of FounderCentre. “Tiho and I had known each other before, but we sat down and started talking. I told him I’d been working on some interesting things with AI. He said, ‘Okay, give me one idea.’”

Stefan’s answer was instinctive.

“I’ve always been fascinated by historical figures. I said, ‘Let’s do something about that.’ And that’s how it started.”

The result was Epoha Online — a video series where Bulgaria’s most iconic revolutionaries, like Hristo Botev and Vasil Levski, are brought to life with AI. Not to entertain. But to move.

“For us, a video is meaningful only when it stirs emotion,” says Stefan. “We don’t have a defined message we’re trying to push. But we’ve received feedback that really stays with us. Teachers wrote to us, saying they wanted to show the videos in class. A few schools even invited us to present them live. That’s what I love most — people want to share the videos. They feel made with care and joy.”

The process itself is as complex as the feeling it aims to evoke.

“We use a huge range of tools,” explains Tiho Banov, co-founder of AdScout and Dconex. “Text models like ChatGPT and Gemini help us write and shape the scripts. Then we use image generators, facial synthesis tools, and video platforms like Kling and HeyGen.”

But beneath the technical layers is an artisan’s patience.

“One scene is about 8 to 10 seconds,” Tiho says. “Each video has five or six scenes. Sometimes, I do over 100 iterations on a single one. The hardest part is emotion — that can’t be automated easily. So we focus on making it feel human.”

Of course, there are roadblocks. European regulations now prevent the generation of real human likenesses. Some voices can’t be used either. But the team isn’t deterred.

“These limitations make us more creative,” Tiho notes. “The challenge is in every stage — from text to video to editing. But it pushes us to be better.”

And Campus X? That’s where the first feedback came.

“Once we had the first rough cuts,” Stefan says, “I showed them to people at the Campus — Vladi, Stefi, Maya, Ognyan. Then a few more — Oleg, Roberta. What mattered is that no one judged. That’s what this place does — it gives you honest feedback, and celebrates experimentation.”

That support matters even more when the mission is personal.

“Tiho has three kids — ages three, six, and nine,” Stefan shares. “He sees what kind of content they’re exposed to on TikTok. He wanted them to have access to something better.”

So, with Tiho’s AI expertise and Stefan’s love for history, they ran an experiment. In just one month, the videos reached over 300,000 views.

For a passion project that began with a question and a hallway conversation, that’s more than a number. It’s a signal.

That meaningful content still resonates. That Bulgaria’s stories still matter. That in a place like Campus X — where people give feedback without fear and create with real heart — history can speak again.

And when it does, people listen.

Watch the videos here.

Written by  Visibilio.ai