Wang Dan, a photo retoucher born in 1994, often laughs at himself. He is probably the “oldest fan” and the most irrational one in the circle of “stars”. This is probably the case.
She has followed “virtual idols” such as Hatsune Miku, Luo Tianyi and Ling Ling all the way to the present, and has invested too much. Especially in a variety show in 2020, in order to support her “virtual idol” Gu Cheng, in addition to joining the support club and playing Call all day long, she also gave her idol Amway to people around her in various ways.
Who doesn’t have a virtual idol in his heart?
In her eyes, Gu Cheng was not the poet who was far away, but a living character with green pupils and a gentle voice at the same time. Wang Dan often asks her questions when someone who doesn’t understand it, “This is a 3D virtual character image. Isn’t it strange to chase these?”
But Wang Dan has his own opinion on this, “When I was a child, I played with a little thing called an electronic pet. I needed to feed it every day and walk after the meal. Then I watched the pet in my hand grow up day by day. I feel very happy.” This is probably Wang Dan’s original intention of chasing “virtual stars”.
Source: Google Images
Her explanation is, “The so-called virtual idols are just a statement. What really touches me is the more real sense of security they bring. Have you seen the movie “She”? I’m just waiting for this day to come. , Sit with my idol face to face.”
Virtual idols like “Gucheng” refer to virtual images created through technologies such as character modeling, speech synthesis, and dynamic capture. Hatsune Miku, developed by the Japanese company Crypton Future Media and “born” in 2007, is currently the most famous first-generation virtual idol in the world.
For a long time, virtual idols have maintained a tepid niche circle in China, most of which are “Hatsune Miku” and “Luo Tianyi” jointly created by China and Japan. Until 2019, the situation quietly changed. That year, Shanghai Phantom Power, one of Bilibili’s largest holding companies, included “Luo Tianyi” under its command. Many capitals smelled a different taste and began to pour into this niche market in a pioneering manner. , Not only created many new virtual characters, but also brought virtual idols to a larger stage.
According to media reports in the circle, in the past ten years, virtual idols have formed four main forms in the Chinese market:
The first generation is virtual idols based on VOCALOID sound library created by technology or entertainment companies, such as Hatsune Miku and Luo Tianyi;
The second generation is characters derived from comics or game IP, such as the infinite kings group hatched from the glory of kings;
The third generation is the “real person + virtual image” Vtuber (virtual anchor), including Lingyuan Yousa, Nanako, etc.;
Up to now, due to the revolutionary development of VR technology and the improvement of the industrial chain (three-dimensional), Ling Ling and other virtual idols have opened the fourth generation with a new attitude-AI and capital dance.
In the past ten years, fans of virtual idols have come and gone, and the image and meaning of “idols” have been constantly changing.
“Virtual Idol” under DreamWorks
Angela, who just turned 20 this year, is the owner of the support group and a netizen that Wang Dan knows in the support group. Although she is not old, she seems excited and mature when she talks about chasing “stars”.
“For me, the response of virtual idols to me is more real. I have also chased stars before, such as Xiao Zhan, Cai Xukun, Lin Yanjun, etc. The support clubs have to grab tickets, endorsement products to buy, and various weird activities. In the end, they may not even get a real smile.”
Angela feels that this is the most correct choice she made on the road to chasing stars, and behind this virtual idol, which she calls “humanity”, is the product of capital joining.
That’s right, compared to seemingly alive virtual idols, those who are cold but “smiling” behind them are the will of capital.
Luo Tianyi’s success in the domestic market has highlighted the commercial value of virtual idols. In recent years, many capitals have gone down the market and opened a new “star-making model”. For example, Liu Ge Amy and Gu Cheng are two characters of iQiyi. Mechanical Ji “Qu Shi Shi” comes from NetEase, and “The First Dancer in the Canyon” Diao Chan comes from Tencent.
In this star-making stage of idol industrialization, capital began to discover that the combination of “personal IP” and “technology” seemed to be able to quickly arouse the desire for “new consumption” of the niche circle.
The “virtual idol” that Angela recognizes as “human nature” is behind a complete industrial chain, and the person who talks to her is probably not just one person.
It is reported that Fengrui Capital invested in two virtual industry-related companies before, one is a technology platform company, and the other is a virtual film company known for 3D animation. In addition to related companies, celebrities have also poured into this wave. In July 2020, Cai Ming used the avatar of “Nanako” to broadcast live at station B for the first time. The popularity value of that day exceeded 6 million. Later, Di Lieba’s incarnation “Lengba” and Huang Zitao’s “Taosman” were both Once appeared in the sight of the public.
However, there are also many cases that turned into a bubble in the end. “Since you can’t take care of it, why create it?” A fan left a message on Huang Zitao’s Weibo, which failed to “make stars”, expressing disappointment with “Taosman” and bluntly saying that virtual idols were not used by them. “Tools” to harvest fans.
Indeed, the virtual idols that are frequently “star-made” and many operational failures make fans feel that their “idols” are gradually becoming instrumental, and some fans have also begun to look for new emotional “hotbeds”.
The projection effect of “virtual idols”
In the eyes of the 18-year-old Momo, WL.S (virtual boy group consisting of 3 members, namely, the young talented singer and dancing boy Kazuko, the black-bellied gaming male soda, and the music creator Baiju) is imperfect, even somewhat pitiful. “They didn’t know that they were a’virtual person’ at first, and then they wanted to desperately integrate into society”, Mo Mo would be angry at what WL.S encountered in the virtual world.
Also drawing strength from WL.S is the 24-year-old Xiaoying. At the moment of growing ups and downs, Xiaoying will think of WL.S and the strength of several of them-“Even if you know that you don’t exist, you still strive to realize your own value and move forward desperately.”
“They (virtual idols) are like high-profile real-life stars. There will be no rumors, no negatives, and a stable personality that conveys an emotional concept.” Xiaoying has always felt that he has only participated in the creation of virtual idols. Only when you are a fan can you be regarded as a fan. The work behind each virtual idol has a story that belongs to everyone.
Xiaoying has also been deeply involved in disputes among the fans because of her creation. More than a year ago, she made a second creation with Kizuna Ai’s MMD model, but the housekeeper in the QQ group felt that Xiaoying had destroyed Kizuna’s role-“Thousands of people and thousands of faces, I’m just expressing myself like everyone else. Feeling, they felt that I was sabotaging.” After explaining the uselessness, Xiaoying withdrew from the group.
“The people in the fan group are all children who are eager to show themselves. They are sensitive, have a strong self-esteem, and can’t tolerate others to say bad things,” Xiaoying said.
A year later, the virtual idols collectively moved towards “live streaming”, Xiaoying decided to leave the circle-“I still feel curious in retrospect. Do fans like virtual idols or do they want to use them to express themselves to gain recognition? With live streaming, the way fans participate has changed from creation to’sponsorship’, which I can’t accept.”
“Virtual Idol” and Live Broadcasting
Following the upsurge of celebrity live broadcasts, virtual idols also entered the live broadcast room. It can be seen in the “2019 Virtual Idol Observation Report” that nearly 400 million people across the country are paying attention to or on the road of paying attention to virtual idols. In 2020, the virtual idol market is estimated to reach 200 billion, doubling in two years.
In May of the same year, the first live show of virtual idol Luo Tianyi’s live broadcast, the number of online followers once reached 3 million, and nearly 2 million people engaged in rewards and interactions. Afterwards, some netizens broke the news that Luo Tianyi’s Taobao live broadcast pit fee reached 900,000 yuan, far surpassing Wei Ya and Li Jiaqi.
Virtual idols will participate in live broadcasts to bring goods. At first it sounds “weird”, but from the actual effect, it does expand the “new consumption” of the new generation of niche circles. For the merchants, the initial focus is not how much it will bring directly. Income, but need to take this opportunity to harvest new fans.
Some scholars said that the presence of virtual idols has not only made the brand of the live broadcast room younger, but also harvested a group of younger consumer groups. Although the fan groups of virtual idols have low spending power for the time being and their favorite consumer products are also niche, these young groups must be the mainstream of consumption in the future.Therefore, from now on, with the help of virtual idols to attract young people and gain popularity among them, the purpose of the business has been achieved.
More importantly, compared to the mantra of a live broadcaster driving viewers to “buy, buy, buy” in the live broadcast room, the relationship between the virtual broadcaster and the fans is more gentle when the live broadcast brings the goods.
However, knowing notes through actual experience found that in the live streaming room of the virtual idol, most of the audience watching the live broadcast are two-dimensional fans. Compared with the live streaming room, there are few questions about the live broadcast price. When asked about product information, the audience was more keen to express their love for idols.
This makes the live broadcast room of virtual idols no longer in a state where the whole people are nervous and ready to grab the goods, but is more inclined to “online meet-and-greets” between virtual idols and fans. While watching the live broadcast, fans not only do “buy things”, but also experience some sense of identity and presence in the live broadcast room.
Despite this, Wang Dan didn’t think so. She only felt that the current situation was “killing” these living virtual idols.
【end】
Whether it is the fan’s “utopia” dream or the competition between capitals, it seems that the “instrumental” nature of virtual idols cannot be changed.
At the beginning of the birth of virtual characters, it was the existence of “tools”, that is, the so-called functionality and companionship. But because of the fans’ continuous “life-saving” and market orientation, they have taken a completely different path. At the same time, these fans who are keen on virtual characters “pay the bill” for the idols for various reasons.
In addition, there are also voices who worry that the personalized interaction provided by such new-generation virtual idols may blur the line between idols and fans. When the fantasy becomes more realistic, some fans’ obsession with idols may change the original meaning of this communication and “a sense of companionship.”
Therefore, the behavior setting and scope of activities of AI virtual idols need to be carefully considered, and a suitable rule system must be established to guide them correctly, so as to avoid the dilemma of “technology rationalizes the behavior of unhealthy fans”.
Momo is still mixed in the circle of virtual idols, “The frequency is less, after all, they have been with me for a period of time, and it is impossible to leave if you say it.” Regarding the live broadcast of virtual idols (carrying goods), she said that she did not care, “I will check it out occasionally. I will not buy some useless things for support. No need.”
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