The Splice 🧬 Riot Games on Launching Virtual Artists
Plus learn about Kizuna AI's mysterious new anime project and why Snap is investing in new brain-controlled Metaverse technology.
Good afternoon!
Welcome back to The Splice 🧬 by VirtualHumans.org: a weekly newsletter curating the latest news, developments, and insights in the virtual influencer space.
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Our “In Conversation With…” insights segment is back this week, this time with marketing expert Lia Haberman of the Substack ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) — check her perspective out down below!
🧬 Core Strands from This Week
Leading VTuber Kizuna AI Confirms Anime Project Debut
🔎 The Synopsis: Following her recent virtual concert and hiatus announcement, popular VTuber Kizuna AI has confirmed she will appear in an anime project, which is currently in production. In the meantime, fans can enjoy her recent NFT collection with Metaani and look forward to her upcoming anime release.
🧬 The Splice: Kizuna AI is diversifying her content to stand apart in the crowded world of VTubers, explaining that “Compared to five years ago when I first started my activities, the world has gradually become more comfortable with virtual existence and people having their own avatars. It makes me really happy, and it also gives me a chance to rethink my identity. I am not that rare anymore.”
Toa Dunn, Head of Riot Games Music, on the Future of Virtual Music Groups
🔎 The Synopsis: We sat down to speak with Toa Dunn from Riot Games, who has been instrumental in transforming League of Legends video game characters into virtual music groups such as K/DA, Pentakill, and True Damage.
🧬 The Splice: “When we started, ‘virtual influencers’ and ‘Metaverse’ were not words that described what we were doing. It’s always been about enhancing the music experience for our players and fans. And we are going to continue to do that by combining creativity with technology.” — Toa Dunn.
LVMH Creates Virtual Ambassador for the 2022 Innovation Award
🔎 The Synopsis: Luxury brand conglomerate LVMH is home to some of the world’s most famous brands, such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, and more. They will debut a new virtual brand ambassador at their annual Innovation Awards in June 2022.
🧬 The Splice: Last year, the award winner was Bambuser, a live video shopping platform. Samsung used Bambuser’s technology to host a live event where virtual influencer Zero presented the new Galaxy S22 phone. Coincidence? Or the future of marketing? Tell us your thoughts below ⬇️
🔭 What We’re Looking at This Week
Deloitte: Younger generations have one foot in the metaverse via gaming and social media
🔑 Key Quote: “About a quarter (23%) of U.S. gamers say they have attended an in-game event in the last year, with millennials and men being the most likely attendees. Remarkably, 82% of those attending live in-game events also made a purchase because of the event: 65% purchased digital goods and 34% purchased physical merchandise, reinforcing the steady blurring of lines between real and virtual worlds." — VentureBeat
Virtual humans emerge as major trend in burgeoning metaverse
🔑 Key Quote: “‘The MZ generation (a Korean term referring to Millennials and Generation Z) now is much more familiar with the digital and virtual world, so they are likely to accept it more easily," Jung Duk-hyun, a pop culture critic, told The Korea Times. "Because they are more and more exposed to emerging metaverse-related technology and (digital) avatars, they become more susceptible to it." — Korea Times
Snap’s Latest Acquisition Is a Bet on a Metaverse Controlled By Thoughts
🔑 Key Quote: "Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, said on March 23 it acquired NextMind, a French neuro-technology startup developing a BCI headband that allows its user to control some aspects of a computer with just their thoughts. Snap said NextMind will help the company drive its long-term augmented reality (AR) research efforts, including developing future versions of Snap’s Spectacles AR glasses.” — Observer
🗣️ In Conversation With…
Lia Haberman of “ICYMI”
Lia Haberman writes the ICYMI newsletter with social news and trends for and about creators. She is CMO at Fit Body App and an adjunct marketing professor at UCLA.
1. I loved your writing about the new avatar features rolling out across Tiktok, IG, and FB. What do you think about these avatars as a form of self-expression?
Right! So Instagram had just rolled out 3D avatars, which to me looked a lot like Snapchat’s Bitmoji and Apple’s Memoji and I was speculating on which avatar or bitmoji people would prefer. Whatever you want to call them, virtual avatars are great. People are always looking for ways to personalize their experience online and this is just another method for digital self-expression. But I do wish there was a standard across platforms and devices so that my avatar had a consistent aesthetic. Anybody who takes time to select specific features — the perfects brows, hair length or nose shape — or even spends money to accessorize their players on Fortnite doesn’t want start from scratch every time they log on to a new platform. In the same way some platforms allow you to connect your crypto wallet, there should be a way to migrate your virtual avatar across platforms or eventually around the metaverse.
2. Who was the first virtual influencer you encountered? What was your first impression and has it changed at all?
I made fun of Lil Miquela on Twitter a few years ago and she tweeted back at me. Someone had automated their feed to find and repost the most beautiful photos of New York City and I said the only difference between this Instagram bot and Lil Miquela was better outfits and more coding. (I did feel a little guilty for making fun of a virtual human, which was kind of weird.)
We went back and forth on Twitter on the differences between virtual influencers, bots and human creators and Lil Miquela did make a good point: real or coded, we all digitally optimize ourselves to get responses on the Internet and that stuck with me ever since.
But even now I can’t help but think that someone else was sitting on the other side of the keyboard, typing responses to me. She’s not artificial intelligence (yet) so Miquela’s only as creative as the person who programs her and that’s the part I can’t get past. It’s like I’m being catfished. I’d rather connect with a robot than someone who’s parroting lines that have been fed to them.
3. What's your favorite trend you've seen so far this year?
I’m fascinated by the impending collision between live commerce, which all the platforms are pushing this year, and Gen Z’s sustainability concerns, leading to the popularity of Depop and Poshmark. The two trends seem at odds with each other. One is pushing something that looks like the Home Shopping Network 24/7 on your social feeds, which rewards impulse shopping. The other is more thoughtful, emphasizing the need to reduce, reuse, recycle. Big tech needs to look at what’s happening with teens — or virtual influencers — and enable a functionality that lets them create shoppable livestreams so they can sell thrifted and repurposed clothing directly from their feed videos.
Best,
VirtualHumans.org
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Insights by Makena Rasmussen, Christopher Travers, and Astrid Hiort.