When a real and illusory world is not too far away from us, the interweaving state of real and virtual people becomes inevitable.
In 2011, the concept of “digital twins” was first proposed in the United States. It portrayed such an imaginative picture to people: In the future, everything that exists in the real world will have a virtual avatar. Between the two The relationship is like twins.
Subsequently, this concept became popular around the world and became the hottest word. From Gartner to Accenture, analysts from top consulting companies are optimistic about the technology’s prospects. The rise of any concept is supported by technology and social development trends, and “digital twins” are no exception. The background of its birth stems from the fact that the boundary between the real world and the virtual world is becoming irreversibly blurred.
In 2015, “If you can make a wish: Teresa Teng 20th Anniversary Virtual Man Commemoration Concert” held by Taipei Arena, shocked many people. The “Teng Lijun” on the stage sang old songs such as “Sweet Honey”, and the 7000 fans in the real world were fascinated by it. As a guest performer, Fei Yuqing even sang two duets “on the same stage” with Teresa Teng. Classic songs. In that real and illusory scene, the boundary between the virtual world and the real world has disappeared.
This concert, which caused a great shock to public opinion, relied on the virtual portrait technology of the Digital Realm. Digital Domain is a visual effects company founded in 1993. It has won many Oscars for films such as “Titanic”. Movies and virtual humans have the same goals. They are both committed to “creating dreams” for the audience, so it is natural to transfer technical strength from movies to virtual humans.
To some extent, you can think of virtual humans as a huge wave in the tide of digital twins. In 2019, Digital Domain discovered the huge opportunities in this market and established a subsidiary, Virtual Valley Future Technology, in the Greater China region for this purpose. At the moment when the virtual human market is entering a rising period, Xugu Future Technology is also becoming a representative of the new force in this field.
BreakThe “virtual person” of Dimension Wall
What exactly is a “virtual person”? This is a difficult question to answer. For example, what is the difference between it and a robot? What are the similarities and differences with the protagonists in childhood cartoons?
In the view of Tang Jiaxian, general manager of Xugu Future Technology, there are three criteria for judging virtual humans: First, it is not a physical object, but an image that really exists in the virtual world. This is the difference between it and a robot; His own distinctive personality and complete “personality”, so that people will think it exists when they are not exposed to it, instead of knowing that those animated images only exist in the cartoon after watching the cartoon; finally; , Has the ability to interact with the audience two-way, and can even coordinate actions and express emotions freely.
It is generally believed that the 1980s was the starting point for the emergence of virtual humans. Because at that time, the virtual singer Lin Mingmei had appeared in the Japanese animation “Macros”, and the virtual person Max Headroom created by the British also shot many movies and commercials. It is worth noting that these virtual people appear in scattered spots, and after the hustle and bustle for a while, they did not cause a bigger splash in the society.
The current wave of virtual humans is represented by Hatsune Miku, which appeared in 2007. Tang Jiaxian believes that the value of Hatsune Miku is reflected in fully proving that virtual humans have the ability to realize commercialization.
In fact, after Hatsune Miku, more virtual people have emerged in different places around the world. In 2012, Shanghai Henian launched the virtual singer Luo Tianyi using a similar operation method to Hatsune Miku, and became the first in China A virtual person who realizes profit; around 2018, a virtual influencer named Lil Miquela gained millions of fans on Instagram. Due to the sophisticated production, many fans did not even realize that this freckled-faced and well-dressed internet celebrity was not a character in the real world. Even after the virtual person’s veil is lifted, a large number of fashion brands still have a lot of cooperation. The commercial value of Miquela is no less than that of influencers on many European and American social platforms.
Strictly speaking, Hatsune Miku, Luo Tianyi and Miquela are not the same kind of virtual person. The first two are more of the products of the two-dimensional world, and they did not show a strong willingness to try to break through the two-dimensional wall; but Miquela is a “realistic virtual person”, that is, through high-fidelity images, deliberately seeking to blur the real world and The boundary between virtual worlds. In Tang Jiaxian’s view, medium and high-quality virtual people like this will inevitably become the future market development trend, because the experience brought by “them” is more real and immersive, while the technical threshold and production cost are significantly reduced to an affordable level.
Just at the beginning of last month, virtual engine developer Epic launched a product called MetaHuman Creator. Once this product was launchedThe reason for the vibration is that it can “pinch” a high-fidelity virtual person in the most simplified way. People only need to select and match hairstyles, facial contours, skin colors, etc. from the material library, and they can create a lot of virtual people that are “real and fake”. The high profile of MetaHuman creator shows at least two things: First, people’s enthusiasm for virtual humans is increasing day by day, so that there is enough space to launch such virtual human development tools; second, the threshold for making virtual humans is no longer the same. It was as far away as ever.
Tang Jiaxian feels the same. She mentioned that when Digital Realm developed Teresa Teng’s virtual person, the cost of a single virtual person was originally at a six-figure level. But after a few years, this cost has dropped from five to ten times. High-quality virtual humans can also be produced under the premise of relatively low cost. The advancement brought by technology attracts virtual humans to choose to enter the virtual human market in the future. In addition, the maturity of virtual human business models and the expansion of application scenarios are also important for virtual humans. Gu Future Technology is quite attractive. For a long time, the commercial realization of virtual humans has always been a problem. For example, among the many virtual human IPs under Shanghai Henian, only a few such as Luo Tianyi can maintain profitability.
The reason lies more in the simplification of monetization methods and scenarios, for example, it can only be monetized through limited methods such as advertisements and concerts. But right now, as more consumers begin to accept virtual humans, its changing scene can be further expanded.
For example, in traditional entertainment scenes, virtual people no longer stick to concerts and other realizing ideas, and instead actively seek deep integration with other scenes such as tourism, cultural creation, etc., such as Xugu Future Technology will bring Teresa Teng virtual people Arriving in Hongyadong, Chongqing, the holographic MR interactive music show “Looking for Teresa Teng” has become a landmark program that continuously attracts tourists and enhances the popularity of tourists; in non-entertainment scenarios, virtual people have more room for imagination. They can play the role of anchor, customer service, companion, etc., so as to solve more diverse needs in people’s lives.
If only the perspective is locked in the limited scenes of entertainment applications, the problem of virtual human realization is always difficult to break, and the limited market value will only be concentrated on a few head IPs; but if the horizons are broadened to a broader Under the circumstances, you will find that the virtual people who break the dimension wall will target a broader market.
Is education an opportunity for virtual people?
Similar to most virtual human operating companies, Virtual Valley Future Technology has also built a complete virtual human IP matrix. But the subtle difference is that the virtual human matrix of other companies is more limited to the fierce track of entertainment, while the IP matrix of Xugu Future Technology aims at different markets.
Currently, the virtual people operated by Xugu Future Technology include Teresa Teng, the avatar image of Teresa Teng, monitor Xiaoai, Star, Nonoka and Lydia. Among them, Teresa Teng is a virtual person developed based on real person images, focusing on the nostalgic market; male virtual person Star and female virtual person Nonoka are more inclined to develop in the direction of fashion and trend; Lydia sticks to the base camp of virtual people, that is, the two-dimensional market ; And squad leader Xiaoai is currently the IP with high hopes and key operations among all virtual people. “She” is trying to open up the online education market.
The reason for launching “Squad Leader Xiao Ai”, Tang Jiaxian mentioned is because he hopes to use cutting-edge technology to inject new force into the field of children’s education, especially children’s online reading. This IP is mainly aimed at pre-school and low-age users in elementary school, and guide and accompany children to grow by sharing interesting knowledge.
Tang Jiaxian does not hesitate to say that the reason why Xugu Future Technology is currently vigorously operating “Squad Leader Xiaoai” is because he has seen the hot situation in front of the online education track. Catalyzed by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the popularization of online education at the mass level has suddenly accelerated. As parents and students have a high acceptance of online teaching, the potential of this market has also been fully released. According to the latest statistics released by CNNIC, as of December 2020, the number of online education users in my country has reached 3.42 Billion.
In order to stay close to the needs of the online education market, squad leader Xiao Ai was set up as a 12-year-old Leo girl born in August, with a lively and outgoing nature. Once launched, the monitor Xiao Ai was welcomed by many people. For example, he was invited to participate in the Hong Kong Orchestra’s 2020 Symphony Concert, Beijing SASAC Recommendation Meeting and other offline activities; in addition, in the “Chinese Poetry Conference”, CCTV Children’s Channel, In Beijing TV and other columns, children can often see the active figure of monitor Xiao Ai. Especially in the highly influential “Chinese Poetry Conference”, squad leader Xiao Ai became the first virtual person to appear in six seasons. Actively appearing in these activities, but also for the squad leader Xiao Ai built a reputation and gained a lot of small fans.
At the same time, Xugu Future Technology will also use the video account as the main operating position to continue to accumulate fans and influence. Since October last year, the monitor of Xiao Ai’s video account has been continuously updated. So far, 133 short videos have been launched. These short videos are mainly for knowledge popularization. For example, the monitor Xiaoai answers questions such as “Why can’t chickens fly high when they have wings”, “Why down jackets can keep warm”, and “How are hot springs formed”.
Because of the diverse and interesting questions, the monitor Xiao Ai’s video account has also become a source of information for many parents and children to increase their knowledge. According to the statistics of the video number data monitoring platform Xinshi, all the short videos released by the monitor Xiaoai have received a total of 800,000 exposures. At present, in the new list of maternal and child parenting bloggers list, monitor Xiao Ai ranks 16th.
When asked why the video account is the key operating position instead of Kuaishou and Douyin, which are more mature in short video ecology, Tang Jiaxian explained from two aspects: First, the video account is a short-form that has just grown up. Video ecology, this can avoid the natural advantages that top KOLs have in traffic distribution; secondly, Kuaishou and Douyin have stronger entertainment attributes, while video numbers are more conducive to the dissemination of educational content. Based on the above two points, squad leader Xiao Ai is mainly active on the video account, and the current data also shows that this decision is correct.
Of course, the video account does not fully reflect the advantages of the virtual person IP of Virtual Valley Future Technology. For example, it is more asynchronous communication with the audience, rather than synchronous two-way communication. Therefore, live broadcast has become a scene that fully demonstrates the real-time communication value of virtual humans.
In July last year, the monitor Xiao Ai and CITIC Art Museum conducted a series of live broadcasts titled “Ancient Capital Tea Party”. She led the children to reinterpret three classic paintings such as “Heaven on the Qingming Festival” and “Han Xizai’s Night Banquet”. . In the vivid explanations of virtual humans and real-time interaction with real experts, many obscure or easily neglected details have been rediscovered and interesting interpretations.
Tang Jiaxian mentioned a detail. Before the first live broadcast, the team was very nervous and all the members devoted themselves to it. But with the rich live broadcast experience and the maturity of technology, nowIt has been simplified to the extent that only a computer or mobile phone can be broadcast. This reflects that the team is familiar enough to drive easily, and it also means that virtual humans can cover more scenes at a lower cost. In fact, companies such as China Unicom and Wang Laoji have already cooperated with monitor Xiao Ai in the live broadcast. In Tang Jiaxian’s view, virtual humans are expected to become the normal traffic explosion in live broadcast rooms because they can enrich the audience’s viewing experience and can achieve strong interaction.
Shortly after the launch, the monitor Xiao Ai has already achieved profitability, which injects a boost for the future technology of Xugu. In the past, the team may worry about whether people accept virtual people or whether the company is willing to pay for virtual people; but now, facts speak louder than words.
With regard to monitor Xiao Ai, there are more plans for Xugu’s future technology that are underway. At present, in addition to the development of a series of technologies such as AI and AR, the company will also cooperate with more children’s educational institutions in the future to allow the monitor Xiaoai IP to participate in the upgrading and creation of various online course content. The major social media will also continue to be the starting point for the promotion of influence and coverage, so as to achieve direct contact with children and parents. In addition, because the monitor Xiao Ai’s technology now supports low-cost and rapid production of video content, video will also become an important channel for monitor Xiao Ai to continue to reach more children.
After the above series of “combined punches”, Xugu Future Technology hopes to build a competition cycle through diversified monetization methods such as content operation, endorsements, events, and animation copyrights, so as to achieve sustained profitability.
Currently, Xugu Future Technology is planning to replicate the successful experience of operation team leader Xiao Ai to more tracks. For example, Nonoka participated in the live broadcast of Wang Laoji’s new product release, and finally helped the brand to obtain the best data since the live broadcast. Few consumers use the words “cool”, “interesting” and “something to watch” to describe the virtual people appearing in the live broadcast room.
Explore the potential track, lay out the IP in a targeted manner, find the most suitable content presentation scene, concentrate on operating the key IP, and then copy the experience to other tracks and scenes. This series of actions shows the future technology of Virtual Valley There are clear plans and strategies for virtual human operations. After successfully seizing the opportunity in the educational track, Xugu Future Technology began to actively explore more possibilities for virtual people.
Will 2021 be a turning point in the development of virtual humans?
At the beginning of this year, Baidu Research Institute released the top ten technological trends in 2021.Trend forecasts, among them, it is mentioned that virtual people will appear in large numbers and shine in the service industry. This means that although virtual people are not new, their large-scale popularity in social life is just around the corner.
When describing the trend of virtual humans, Baidu Research Institute wrote in the aforementioned report that “virtual humans created by combining 3D modeling, emotion recognition, intelligent recommendation and other technologies can see, listen, speak, and interact with each other. Humans communicate naturally. In 2021, the production threshold of digital and virtual humans will be further lowered.”
Coincidentally, Tang Jiaxian also mentioned in the conversation that the next step for virtual humans is the development from “digitalization” to “digital intelligence”. Behind the word difference is a key leap in the field of virtual humans. Only from “digitalization” to “digital intelligence” can virtual humans get rid of the simple simulation of “shape” and realize “both form and spirit”, so as to truly enter more application scenarios, and provide more C-end consumers and B-end users accept.
In fact, even the version of Teresa Teng’s virtual person, the current continuously optimized version of Digital Realm, is quite different from the version that debuted eight years ago. From the eyes that are the windows of the soul to the mouth shape when speaking, the details have been optimized to the point where it is difficult to find that it is a virtual person even if you shoot straight with your face. More importantly, it has the ability of real-time barrier-free communication through motion capture and other technologies, which has laid the technical foundation for personalized communication with different consumers.
Because of the rapid advancement of virtual human technology, more and more C-end consumers and B-end users are becoming enthusiastic about this field. On the C side, iQiyi launched the virtual talent show “Cross-Dimensional Rising Stars” in October last year. Similar programs and performances frequently sparked heated discussions on social platforms and station B, showing that the society’s acceptance of virtual people has increased significantly; on the B side, brands such as Wanglaoji, China Unicom, and Ran Lux have begun to test the waters of virtual human live broadcasts, which is not bad The effect of related cooperation has become a show case, and thus attract more brands to join in.
In fact, Tang Jiaxian has faintly felt that more advertisers’ cooperation needs are gaining momentum. She mentioned that Virtual Valley Future Technology will focus on exploring the joint IP model this year. The so-called joint IP is similar to the development and operation of virtual human IP. Enterprises can put forward their needs according to their own characteristics and wishes. Virtual human IP will be completed by Xugu Future Technology, and the existing operating experience and technical services can be used to help enterprises operate. Dedicated IP.
In her view, the high recognition, flexibility, real-time interaction and controllability of high-quality virtual human IP are of great value to the company’s future-oriented consumer communication. At the same time, the characteristics of low marginal cost and high marginal revenue after the development of the virtual person will not bring a heavy burden to the enterprise, but the virtual human IP with the characteristics of lightweight operation can bring more possibilities to the enterprise—— For example, in addition to advertising and marketing, they can also become customer service personnel to answer consumers’ questions in time. Therefore, virtual people are expected to become the standard application image of major companies, brands and institutions.
Undoubtedly, the boundary between the real world and the virtual world will inevitably become more blurred.
In the past, although we created a huge virtual world through the Internet, the input and output devices composed of keyboard, mouse, and screen clearly demarcated the boundary between real and virtual; however, VR, AR, Although MR and XR technologies have adopted different technological paths, they have solved the problem of how to integrate the real world and the virtual world into one. From the perseverance of people’s enthusiasm for VR, AR, MR and XR, it is not difficult to see how attractive this trend is to humans.
When a real and illusory world is not too far away from us, the interweaving state of real and virtual people becomes inevitable. Will 2021 be a turning point in the development of virtual humans? This question is difficult to give a clear answer at the moment, after all, the speed of technological development often exceeds our expectations. But what is certain is that under the multiple simultaneous support of technology, market and capital, the pace of the outbreak of the medium and high-quality virtual human market is accelerating towards us.