16 | Thursday, December 3, 2020 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY LIFE Virtually famous in real life Computer-generated internet stars are gaining popularity as online influencers, especially among the youth, Wang Qian reports. t seemed like just another talent show when other performances behind the scenes, with motion China Central Television unveiled photos of 36 tracking allowing the avatars to match the move- contestants for Bravo Youngsters on Nov 19. ments. But a closer look reveals one woman who’s a bit Although the virtual competition has received mix Idifferent from the others. reactions, with some calling it “awkward” and “tech­ The seemingly flawless 25-year-old Beijing wom- nologically challenged”, iQiyi says in a statement that an, Ling, is a social media influencer, whose realistic the company hopes it will help the platform “forge a appearance is computer generated. strong bond with young viewers”. She behaves like an actual human social media The virtual-idol concept originated in Japan and star. Her Sina Weibo feed is a mix of photos of her has become increasingly popular in China. They’re daily life, including attending fashion events and almost everywhere, from holographic concerts and promoting designer clothes and brands. talent shows to e-commerce livestreaming plat- She has attracted over 68,000 followers on the forms. platform since her first post: “I’m Ling. I’m here.” Statistics from market consultancy iResearch She’ll perform onstage at the show, which will be show the country’s ACG fan base is expected to reach broadcast on CCTV 3 every Sunday. 410 million by the end of this year. “I love traditional Chinese culture, especially Fifteen-year-old Luo Tianyi, for one, has taken Peking Opera, calligraphy and tai chi. I hope that I China’s virtual pop scene by storm. The computer- can interpret these art forms in my own way on the generated artist has over 4.7 million followers on stage,” Ling posted on her Weibo account on Nov 22. Sina Weibo and more than 2 million fans on Bilibili, She explains that her name, Ling, comes from the and performed with China’s world-celebrated pian- feathered headdress worn in Peking Opera. ist Lang Lang last year. “Bravo Youngsters will provide a national stage to The subculture’s market value will grow from let more people know Ling,” says Chen Yan, founder more than 194 billion yuan ($29.5 billion) last year to of Beijing Next Generation Culture Media, the com- 210 billion yuan by 2022, Citic Securities predicts. pany behind Ling. Virtual idols have hit headlines outside of China Ling was created by Next Generation studio and and are expected to become the future of fashion. Shanghai artificial intelligence startup Xmov. The latest is aespa, a K-pop girl group with South Her voice in the talent show follows the school of Korea’s SM Entertainment agency. The band debut- the late Peking Opera master Mei Lanfang, Zhang ed last month with the digital single, Black Mamba. says. The group includes four human members and their Xmov founder Chai Jinxiang told the media-tech- virtual counterparts. nology site 36Kr that the company’s artificial-intelli- The agency says aespa is “the first project of SM gence animated-performance technology generates Culture Universe that will open the start of enter- Ling’s facial expressions and gestures. tainment in the future”. Her participation in Bravo Youngsters has gone Early this year, the World Health Organization viral and has been viewed over 72 million times. teamed up with a digital avatar, Knox Frost, to help Some netizens are curious about how and what she spread information about COVID-19 to younger will perform, while some say the shape of her eyes audiences. Frost is a 20-year-old man from Atlanta feeds into stereotypes about Asian women. with over 1.1 million Instagram followers. Chen explains that her eyes are designed to look Bilibili, a Chinese video-streaming website that’s good while wearing Peking Opera makeup. regarded as a haven for youth subculture, “We’re happy to see Ling get so much attention announced that 30 virtual entertainers from China online,” Chen says. and Japan, including Kizuna Ai, will perform in its “Some comments even mentioned details like her 11th Bilibili Macro Link event in Shanghai on Dec 19. nails. Although she is virtual, she is not perfect like Bilibili’s CEO Rui Chen said in a previous state- we humans are.” ment, “We believe that there is tremendous potential He says it’ll still take time for people to better in the synergy between virtual idols and Bilibili’s know Ling, as more details about her life will be post- multiple business segments, including live broad- ed online. casting, advertising, games, tie-in products and off- “We aim to build her into a web influencer inter- line events.” ested in guofeng (Chinese national style). She breaks Although still in an early phase in China, the virtu- down the barriers between the real and virtual al-influencer industry has captured the interest of a worlds as an ‘IT’ girl, who wants to promote Chinese growing number of domestic internet companies, culture around the world,” Chen says, adding that agencies and investors. she’ll later open accounts on other social media plat- Chen Zhe, with the venture capital company Frees forms like Instagram and Facebook. Fund, tells business-and-technology portal TMTPost Ling has inked partnerships with brands, includ- that the rise of virtual influencers will bring challen- ing the fashion magazine Vogue, US electric-car ges and opportunities. maker Tesla and milk-tea producer Nayuki. “On one hand, they have great advantages. Unlike Early next year, Ling will release her first single, Top: Ling, a computer-generated social media star, will perform onstage at human influencers who will get old, or may become which will lead her to work with lauded collabora- the upcoming show, Bravo Youngsters, which will be broadcast on China embroiled in some sort of scandal, digital influencers tors, Chen says. Central Television’s Channel 3. Above: A computer-generated image shows are young, flexible, manageable and controllable,” he Next Generation was established in 2016 and has Ling working with a photographer’s team. says. been funded by venture-capital companies like PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY “On the other, the market needs more localized Shunwei Capital, Lighthouse Capital and UniMedia. virtual influencers whose content design is tailored to connect with Chinese and more modes of com- Emerging market humans. They’re cheap, never tired and brand safe. are limited,” Chen says, adding that two or three such mercial collaboration need to be explored.” In China, a growing number of companies have In addition to Ling, Next Generation has created celebrity avatars will be released next year. Chen Yan points out that influencers like Ling are tried animated avatars to lure young clients — most- virtual alter egos for singer Huang Zitao and actress Its digital DJ Purple is competing in the ongoing virtual, but their influence is real. ly Generation Z (people born between the mid-1990s Dilraba Dilmura. Dimension Nova, an iQiyi talent show for virtual And they will bring big changes to the entertain- and early 2000s) — who grew up in the internet era. “Such virtual creations modeled off celebrities can contestants. Three human judges will select the next ment and fashion sectors in the near future. Chen believes digital characters have significant help build closer connections and enable new interac- big star from dozens of digital characters. These ava- commercial advantages compared with real tions with fans because human stars’ time and energy tars require people to do the singing, dancing and Contact the writer at [email protected] Questions of identity amid digitally rendered realities By DENG ZHANGYU The Real Thing is a VR film that ate countless hands in different siz- chance for Chinese art lovers to expe- [email protected] brings visitors into Chinese cities es and colors in a virtual world. They rience six XR works in one show. that feature Western monuments, can walk around, exploring their The last VR exhibition she saw Questions about personal identity such as the Eiffel Tower and London superpowers, such as climbing high featured oil painter Yu Hong’s VR are becoming more difficult to Bridge. into the sky or diving into deep work two years ago. answer as people spend more time The VR work transports audien- water, using the hands they design. Che says VR and XR shows are in the virtual world. ces into an environment that blends The works were created by artists relatively new to China, and it’s A recently launched show using local landscapes and replicas of from around the world, including expensive to organize such exhibits extended reality, or XR, technolo- iconic Western structures. those from such countries as Switz- because of equipment and space. gies in Beijing seeks to explore these Work of VVVR is a voice-con- erland, Italy and France. But more artists from home and issues. trolled tool that allows people to None of the artists were able to abroad are embracing new technol- Negotiable Matters: Identities “see” their voices transformed into attend the show’s opening on Nov 21 ogies. presents six works employing virtu- geometric patterns as they speak. because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some artists in the show are tech- al reality, augmented reality or It enables two people sitting Also, visitor numbers are restricted savvy. For instance, Bodyless’ pro- mixed reality at the Goethe-Institut opposite to each other to interact in to 13 every two hours due to limited ducer Hsin-Chien Huang is good at China in Beijing, allowing visitors to a virtual space through their voices space and equipment.