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posted by martyb on Friday October 05 2018, @01:44PM   Printer-friendly
from the animated-participants dept.

The virtual vloggers taking over YouTube

A young Japanese woman sporting a giant pink bow and white opera gloves looks into the camera and gleefully greets her YouTube audience. She's about to try and solve a puzzle. Before diving into the game, she boasts with a smile: "Well, compared to all you humans, I can clear it much faster. No doubt about it!"

Yes, this YouTube personality isn't a real person. While she's voiced by a human, she's a digital, anime-style cartoon. Her name is Kizuna Ai, and she has more than two million subscribers to her channel. She's the most-watched "virtual YouTuber" on the site. Kizuna Ai is part of an emerging trend where 3D avatars – rather than humans – are becoming celebrities on YouTube, with dedicated fanbases and corporate deals. It's becoming so popular that one company is investing tens of millions in "virtual talent" and talent agencies are being established to manage these avatars.

It's a movement that has big implications for the future – it could change how brands market their products and how we interact with technology. It could even let us live forever.

Yes, that's right. It could let you "live" forever. The true immortality: being remembered only as an anime girl.

Come to Japan.


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by YeaWhatevs on Friday October 05 2018, @04:20PM (1 child)

    by YeaWhatevs (5623) on Friday October 05 2018, @04:20PM (#744672)

    But are the ad dollars real?

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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Friday October 05 2018, @04:43PM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Friday October 05 2018, @04:43PM (#744685) Journal

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphabet_Inc. [wikipedia.org]

    Revenue: US$110.86 billion (2017)

    Given that most of their revenue comes from ads, they probably made at least $100 billion off of ads in 2017 or 2018.

    I'm surprised the house of ads hasn't fallen yet.

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