Buzz
Rozy, a South Korean virtual influencer, is a hyper-realistic digital creation often perceived as a real human. Developed by LOCUS-X, she blurs the line between reality and simulation.Rozy has become a social media sensation in South Korea, captivating 149,000 Instagram followers as a stunning model, actress, and dancer. She has starred in a Shinhan Life insurance ad and recently launched her music career with the debut single "Who Am I."
Rozy's achievements are remarkable, especially considering she isn't a real person. She is a CGI celebrity crafted by the innovative team at LOCUS-X. (Watch the CNBC interview with their executive director for more insights.) Rozy exemplifies the growing trend of virtual influencers, which brands are leveraging to engage younger audiences effectively.
Digital personalities like Lu do Magalu and Miquela Sousa have garnered millions of followers on Instagram. Prada, a luxury brand, introduced a virtual muse named Candy to market a fragrance sharing the same name. In 2020, the World Health Organization even employed a virtual influencer for a COVID-19 awareness initiative.
The Evolution of Virtual Influencers
Though still emerging in the U.S., virtual influencers are already a significant marketing force in Asia. Alongside Rozy, there's Lucy, a digital personality developed by Lotte Home Shopping, a Korean retail giant. In China, studies reveal that nearly two-thirds of internet users follow CGI celebrities, as reported in a 2021 Jing Daily article.
"The industry has grown in both medium and audience reach," says Christopher Travers, founder and editor-in-chief of VirtualHumans.org, a platform dedicated to tracking and analyzing the virtual influencer sector.
"Initially, virtual influencers were mostly cartoon-based, but as technology advanced, creating engaging content became more accessible," Travers explains via email. "Now, with tools for producing virtual media becoming more sophisticated, the content we consume is also evolving. All indicators suggest further progress in virtual creation tools, leading to a rise in virtual, gaming, and avatar media. This aligns with increasing demand from generations who grew up with such content, like those raised on iPads or video games."
Virtual influencers have undergone significant evolution in their short history.
"Initially, virtual influencers were meticulously crafted — CGI shaped their forms, while motion capture from real actors provided lifelike movements," says Peter J. Bentley via email. Bentley, an honorary professor and teaching fellow in computer science at University College London, has held academic positions across the U.K. and Asia and authored over 300 scientific papers and multiple books on computing.
"Today, generative machine learning (AI) enables the automatic creation of photorealistic bodies, faces, and voices, while 'deepfake' technology can replace faces or bodies in videos," Bentley adds. "This simplifies the creation of virtual influencers. Eventually, AI may generate bodies and behaviors independently, though human oversight will likely remain necessary to ensure they act and speak appropriately."
AI Allows Virtual Influencers to Interact
Moreover, developers are leveraging AI to create advanced virtual influencers capable of engaging with their audience. In a June 2022 New Scientist article, writer Tevy Kuch highlights Serah Reikka, a virtual influencer whose personality and appearance are algorithm-driven and can adapt over time using data from Wikipedia. While a human team oversees Reikka, AI determines her actions. "I chart my own course," the digital persona stated, while acknowledging she "wisely heeds advice from [her] human collaborators."
Such interactions are still in their infancy. Reikka required two hours to formulate responses to Kuch's questions and an additional 10 hours to produce the animated video where she delivered those responses.
As technology advances, virtual influencers may eventually respond to humans in near real-time. However, if they become a common part of daily life, the impact of our interactions with them remains uncertain. A June 2022 study in the journal New Media and Society revealed that viewers' parasocial responses to virtual influencers — their one-sided emotional connection to a media figure — are remarkably similar to their reactions to human influencers.
"The goal is to captivate audiences and immerse them in the virtual lives of these non-human entities, enabling them to market products and services effectively," Bentley explains. "Many virtual influencers boast follower counts rivaling or surpassing those of real humans. For some, this illusion of human connection may alleviate feelings of loneliness."
What Is the Effect of Virtual Perfection?
Research specifically examining the impact of virtual influencers on users remains limited. However, a January 2022 study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, which broadly analyzed social media influencers, found that young women in their teens and twenties often experienced body dissatisfaction after viewing influencers' images.
Bentley worries that "the unattainable physical ideals portrayed by influencers could exacerbate eating disorders and body dysmorphia among those who replace genuine human connections with these artificial 'relationships.'"
Future AI-driven virtual influencers could profoundly impact followers by leveraging virtual reality and advancements in haptics, a technology that replicates touch and motion sensations. However, AI's capacity to mimic human emotions might have an even greater influence.
"Humans are exceptionally skilled at attributing emotions and feelings to almost anything, so extreme realism isn't always necessary," Bentley notes. "In fact, the 'uncanny valley' effect observed in robotics can also apply to virtual influencers — the more we interact with and observe an artificial being, the more lifelike its behavior must be, or it risks seeming robotic or unsettling. This is why cartoonish characters can sometimes be preferable, as they don't demand the same level of behavioral realism."
Ultimately, Bentley warns that any interaction with a virtual influencer, no matter how lifelike, will remain one-sided, as the computer-generated persona cannot genuinely reciprocate human emotions.
This dynamic could change only if artificial intelligence technology advances significantly.
As highlighted in a 2020 article by Cole Henry on VirtualHumans.org, the concept of virtual influencers predates computers and the internet. In the 1930s, artist Lester Gaba created a lifelike mannequin named Cynthia, who gained immense popularity and even starred in a Life magazine photo shoot, showcasing her in various New York City settings.
