[GQ reports on the origins and expansion of virtual models on Instagram to video blogging influencers soon to be powered by artificial intelligence; among the interesting observations is this:
“’I would argue you can establish the same connection with a VTuber that you would with a ‘normal’ YouTuber,’ says João Lopes, an 18-year-old fan. ‘Even the most authentic influencers craft their personality to be more likeable.’ Indeed, the unblinking artificiality of this new wave of virtual celebrities is, it might be argued, more honest than flesh-and-blood celebrities who take care only to present part of their personality on camera. Brud’s website answers the question ‘Is [CGI model] [Lil] Miquela real?’ thus: ‘As real as Rihanna.’”
–Matthew]
Inside the world’s first modelling agency for virtual celebrities
Virtual celebrities are taking over your feeds but does it matter that they are not real?
By Chris Stokel-Walker
18 September 2019
Think “modelling” and you might think of Paris, perhaps, or London or New York. To a number of brands, another place has recently appeared on that list: the British seaside town Weymouth.
The Diigitals is located near Chesil Beach, at the home of Cameron-James Wilson. The company has worked with the likes of Balmain and Ellesse on worldwide campaigns and its point of difference is simple: it’s the world’s first modelling agency for virtual celebrities.
It’s the latest evolutionary step in a trend that gained teeth last year when Brud – the Los Angeles company behind a computer-generated Instagrammer called Lil Miquela, an avatar with 1.6 million followers – attracted $6m (£4.7m) of investment. She wears digital versions of real-life clothes and shows off pixel-perfect re-creations of physical products. In May, she “kissed” Bella Hadid in an ad for Calvin Klein [See coverage/commentary in The Guardian –ML]. The company is currently worth £98m and a multitude of other start-ups are emerging – Fable (“the virtual beings company”), for instance, and 1sec (a “virtual human planning and production” service). What once looked like a gimmick is now big business – and virtual personae are invading other forms of media, stepping out of the constraints of still photos and into video.
The Diigitals finds itself front and centre of this movement, but the company’s origin is grounded more in luck than judgement. It all started with Wilson, a 30-year-old fashion photographer, deciding to test his abilities as a CGI artist. “I was just practising my 3-D modelling skills,” he explains, pushing a curtain of bleached blond hair away from his face. “I wanted to see how realistic I could make this person look.” He based his first character, called Shudu, on a Barbie doll. Wilson posted the completed render on Instagram in April 2017 and was surprised by the reception. As one viewer commented: “Wait, so the model in these photos isn’t real but a 3-D creation?”
Waif-like, with an elongated neck enclosed in 17 glittering gold band necklaces, unblemished skin and a strikingly dark complexion, Shudu looked like the sort of fashion models Wilson photographed in his daily life – and soon became one, with an early collaboration advertising the niche fashion label Soulsky. One of Shudu’s images made its way to Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty account, which amplified her to a bigger audience. In August 2018, Shudu stood alongside two other new digital influencers – Margot and Zhi – to model for Balmain. “That was the first time I thought, ‘Wow, I can actually make money doing this,’” says Wilson.
Today, The Diigitals has a roster of seven virtual models, including one man, Koffi, who was created in January 2019. So why have audiences warmed so readily to this new breed of entertainer? Rob Cover, an assistant professor at The University Of Western Australia, who writes about digital cultures, puts it down to three things: “The novelty of computer-generated imagery, the sophistication of the product and the use of humour in stitching together a story.” For brands it makes sense, too: you’re unlikely to get negative headlines from a virtual influencer, because they don’t exist outside the tightly controlled world of ad campaigns.
The day before we speak, Wilson started working with a digital content creator who will provide Shudu with a voice, allowing her to do interviews and, eventually, videos. This would thrust Koffi, Shudu and the rest of The Diigital’s models into the small but competitive arena of the “VTuber”. Virtual YouTubers have dedicated followings in Japan and increasingly so in the West. Videos starring VTubers – of which YouTube says there are more than 5,000 – were watched more than a billion times between January 2018 and last May and 50 per cent more than a year before. Like their real-life counterparts, VTubers tend to post traditional vlogs explaining what they have been up to and wander around cities (while superimposed on real video). One of the most popular English-speaking VTubers is Ami Yamato, a computer-generated character who “lives in London” and has nearly 150,000 subscribers.
“I would argue you can establish the same connection with a VTuber that you would with a ‘normal’ YouTuber,” says João Lopes, an 18-year-old fan. “Even the most authentic influencers craft their personality to be more likeable.” Indeed, the unblinking artificiality of this new wave of virtual celebrities is, it might be argued, more honest than flesh-and-blood celebrities who take care only to present part of their personality on camera. Brud’s website answers the question “Is [Lil] Miquela real?” thus: “As real as Rihanna.”
The man behind The Diigitals agrees: “A lot of it has to do with social media and the highly edited world that it is,” says Wilson. “We’ve become much more open to digital imagery in general. I don’t think people are averse to virtual models, because they’re so used to seeing heavily Photoshopped images on social media. It’s a cultural thing.”
It’s a bracing thought, but it shouldn’t come as a surprise. We are able to feel emotional connections to fictional characters in films, television, books – even video games (just ask anyone who has played the latest Red Dead Redemption). This is just another form of storytelling. The difference is that these new characters may take on a life of their own. The VC company Betaworks has reportedly allocated $200,000 to finance start-ups that will combine CGI celebrities with artificial intelligence. All hail your new social media overlords.