Virtual Idols: The New Computer-Made Celebrities

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Firstly, let’s start with some amazing facts, during the Bilibili Macro Link in 2019, an offline event held by bilibili.com, a total of 6 million people watched the grandest virtual idol concert in China, which is truly a huge number.

首先我们想陈述一个或许会让人震惊的事实。在2019年哔哩哔哩的线下活动Bilibili Macro Link上,共有600万人观看了国内目前为止阵容最强的虚拟偶像演唱会,这是一个庞大的数字。

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This may bring certain questions like: What’s virtual idol and why are they so popular, or who are the most popular virtual idols? Let’s go through some of these questions in this article.

看到这里你可能会发出疑问:虚拟偶像是什么,为什么他们如此流行,热门的虚拟偶像又有哪些?别急,让我们来一一为你解答。

What is a Virtual Idol?

虚拟偶像是什么? 

A Virtual Idol is a kind of character which is produced by drawing, animation, CG etc., to carry out (mainly) singing activities in virtual or real scenarios, but it does not exist in any realistic form. Usually, the appearance of a virtual idol is designed by a professional designer, while the audio comes from a sound bank made by voice collection from professional dubbing staff.

虚拟偶像,是指通过绘画、动画、CG等形式制作,在互联网等虚拟场景或现实场景进行歌手活动,但本身并不以实体形式存在的人物形象。通常虚拟偶像的外形由专门的画师设计,声音也来源于由专业配音人员的声音收集制作成的声库。

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Because the personality of a virtual idol is more built-in, it is not easy to encounter a "fall from grace" like real celebrities, which can often garner more favor from their targeted audience. And because a virtual idol is not a real person, he/she can conduct activities beyond the scope of human beings. They can not only make albums or photo albums, but also enrich their own character personas via collaborative content created by their fans. Therefore, the gap between virtual idols and fans is much smaller compared to real celebrities. This is one of the reasons why virtual idols are so popular.

由于性格设定比较直观,不容易像真人偶像一样面临“人设崩塌”的风险,因此虚拟偶像往往可以直接明确地获得受众的好感。也正因为虚拟偶像并非拥有实体的人物,他们可以进行的偶像活动超越了人类的范畴,不仅可以制作专辑、写真集,还可以通过汲取粉丝的同人二次创作来丰富自己的人物形象,因此与粉丝间的隔阂也比真人偶像小得多。这也是虚拟偶像如此受到欢迎的原因之一。

Virtual Idols in Business

虚拟偶像在商业中的应用

Compared with a real celebrity, a virtual idol has obvious advantages of stability and plasticity, which is why their commercial value is mainly based on these aspects. Many brands and platforms have taken this great opportunity to launch joint activities with virtual idols. For example, the ancestor of Virtual Idols, Hatsune Miku, officially settled on the Taobao platform in order to interact with the virtual images of users; leisure clothing brand Meters/bonwe  launched a joint series with IP " The King’s Avatar"; makeup brand M.A.C also launched a joint series of makeup products with the virtual idols of Tencent PVP games Arena Of Valor: 5v5 Arena Game. What’s more, Jackson Yee has appeared on the cover of Vogue Me with virtual idol Noonoouri in 2019.

与真人偶像相比,虚拟偶像显然更具有稳定性和可塑性,其商业价值也主要基于此。许多品牌和平台都看中了这种商业价值,与虚拟偶像一起推出联名活动,比如虚拟偶像鼻祖“初音未来”正式入驻淘宝平台,与用户的虚拟形象进行互动;休闲服饰品牌美特斯邦威推出《全职高手》联名款;彩妆品牌魅可也与《王者荣耀》的无限王者团推出了限定系列产品;除此之外,艺人易烊千玺还曾在2019年与虚拟偶像努努携手登上《VogueMe》开年刊封面……

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Although the forms of cooperation between brands and virtual idols are gradually becoming diversified with the development of technology, it is certain that the goal of commercial cooperation will eventually focus on the Fan Economy. Since most of their fans are of the younger generation with high rates activity and acceptance, they also have different consumption structures and values, which brands can find convenient. Besides, the essence of a virtual idol is still a "person" shaped by the team behind it, and its existence is to meet the needs of their audience, whether that be via accompanying them or through interaction, so for consistent fans of these Virtual Idols, it is more operable to make them pay.

尽管品牌与虚拟偶像合作的形式正逐步随着技术的发展趋于多样化,但可以肯定的是,商业化合作的目标最终还是要聚焦到粉丝经济,而由于虚拟偶像的粉丝大多是年轻一代,活跃度和接受程度较高,也有着不同的消费结构和价值观,品牌很容易从中得到便利;除此之外,由于虚拟偶像的本质仍是由背后的团队所塑造的“人”,其存在是用以满足受众陪伴和互动的需求,因此通常粉丝黏度较高,将IP变现也更具有可操作性。


Who are the Most Popular Virtual Idols?

热门虚拟偶像有哪些?

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Hatsune Miku 初音未来

A Japanese singer born in 2007, who is a girl with iconic long green hair. She is not only one of the most famous virtual idols, but also the first one to hold concerts with holographic projection technology. Her appearance has made electronic music more popular and has created many excellent songs. She is now active in cooperating with brands ranging from Internet services, fashion, automobiles and daily necessities.

诞生于2007年的歌手,起源于日本,她的形象是一个绿色长发的少女。她不仅是最久远的虚拟偶像之一,也是世界上第一个使用全息投影技术举办演唱会的虚拟偶像,她的出现让电子音乐更多地走进大众的视野,创造出了许多优秀的音乐作品,如今她活跃在从互联网、时装、汽车到生活用品等各种场合。

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Luo Tianyi 洛天依

A 15-year-old Chinese singer who was born in 2012. Her name and image design both contain many Chinese elements. She also has her own "Spirit of Sound". She has participated in many concerts and big events. A notable aspect of her creation is that the character profile and image was created and decided upon by fans.

诞生于2012年,是一个15岁的中国少女歌手,其名字和形象设计都包含了很多中国元素,还拥有自己的“音之精灵”,参与过很多场演唱会和大型晚会演出的录制。值得一提的是,某种程度上这个角色是由粉丝创造的——她的形象和角色资料或多或少都是由粉丝们敲定的。

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Kizuna AI 绊爱

A virtual YouTuber born in 2016, who claims to be the first virtual YouTuber in the world. Due to her special identity, her videos on YouTube are more interactive, focusing on maintaining communication with fans, her channel already has millions of fans. In 2018, she also became a publicity ambassador for “Come to Japan”, a program that promotes Japanese tourism.

诞生于2016年的一个虚拟YouTuber,自称为世界第一个Virtual YouTuber。由于其身份特殊,其在YouTube上发出的视频更具有互动性,注重维持与粉丝之间的沟通,而其频道粉丝数破百万。2018年她还成为了推广日本旅游的Come to Japan的宣传大使。

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Virtual Idol inclusion in popular games, IP’s and brands

伴随热门游戏、IP、品牌诞生的虚拟偶像形象

There are also many well-known virtual idols that are personified through brands and games, such as 22 and 33 of bilibili.com, virtual idol group of Arena Of Valor: 5v5 Arena Game, Xiaodu of Baidu, Xiao AI of Xiaomi, etc. These virtual characters based on brand elements are usually active in the brands own business activities, so they have more stable exposure in the market.

还有很多的知名虚拟偶像是由品牌、游戏等拟人化而来的,如哔哩哔哩的吉祥物22和33、《王者荣耀》的虚拟偶像男团王者天团、百度的虚拟人物形象小度、小米的虚拟人物形象小爱同学等等。这些以品牌元素为基础进行设计的虚拟人物通常与品牌自己的商业活动绑定,因此具有更稳定的曝光度。

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