The Splice 🧬 Do Virtual Influencers Fall in Love?
Good afternoon!
We are excited to introduce The Splice 🧬 from VirtualHumans.org: a weekly newsletter curating the latest news, developments, and insights in the virtual influencer space.
We’re consolidating our two weekly emails into one, insight-packed email, designed to recap the week and expose you to more perspectives to consider and pass along.
Feel free to let us know what you think of this change by replying to this email, and thank you for your support!
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🧬 Core Strands From This Week
Virtual Influencers Are Turning To Twitch: The Inside Look
🔎 The Synopsis: We interviewed 3 virtual influencers with over 77,000 followers combined on Twitch to learn more about their experiences as a creator on the platform.
🧬 The Splice: Twitch is a great opportunity for virtuals to showcase their realtime rendering technology—AKA what allows them to move and speak instantly— and personality to their audience.
Do Virtual Influencers Fall in Love?
🔎 The Synopsis: We examined how virtual influencers build relationships with each other—whether it’s as friends, lovers, or even enemies.
🧬 The Splice: When companies like Brud have their virtuals interact with each other, they are world-building and creating an entire fictional universe to tell stories within.
For example, in the Marvel Universe, every superhero has their own movie, but they still come together for The Avengers or even a quick cameo, and fans love to see that.
🧵 The Common Thread
Both of these articles showcase virtual influencers’ ability to form deep and meaningful relationships whether it’s with each other or their fans.
It’s important to remember that these characters don’t exist in a vacuum online! They interact with each other and their audiences in intimate and nuanced ways that truly bring them to life.
🔭 What We’re Looking At This Week
Thomas the Tank Engine Joins Boss Baby on Cameo
🔑 Key Quote: “We see a future where every major brand and studio has their IP on Cameo. So if it’s Mattel, they are the owners of Barbie, Skeletor, and American Girl dolls. Whether it’s Disney [or] Nickelodeon, they’ll have an incredible amount of animated IP that connects with kids every single day,” — Arthur Leopold, Cameo chief business officer
🧬 The Splice: Because both Thomas and Boss Baby use an AI, their videos take less time to produce and only cost a fraction of a typical celebrity Cameo. That means virtual characters are easily scaleable, even on a personalized video app like Cameo.
Imagine being able to buy a Cameo of FN Meka or Miquela wishing you a happy birthday, that’s where the future is headed towards.
Best,
VirtualHumans.org
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Insights by Makena Rasmussen, Christopher Travers, and Astrid Hiort.