And Activ8 already has ambitions to expand its VTuber portfolio beyond Japan. The VTuber phenomenon has so far been almost exclusively Japanese, however its underlying technology and formula of combining popular culture with increased interactivity - and thus believability - are universal. While international audiences may prefer more photorealistic characters - which are more difficult to create and animate - their Japanese counterparts raised on comic book heroes have no problem with cartoonish looks. The country has a long history of user-generated content centered on anime, and performances by virtual idols like Hatsune Miku have drawn real-world crowds for more than a decade. It’s no accident that VTubers found fertile ground in Japan. With free-to-use animation engines and 3-D models from the likes of Unity Technologies, anyone could create a virtual puppet studio for cheap in their living room. Designed to do precise head and hand tracking, the VR kits from Facebook Inc.’s Oculus and HTC Corp.’s Vive turned out to be perfect animation rigs for VTuber aspirants on a budget. Kizuna Ai debuted on YouTube in December 2016 and was responsible for coining the term “VTuber.” The technology that opened the door for its many imitators arrived that same year, in the form of the first commercial virtual reality goggles. who heads a division specializing in VTubers. “The innovation here is in how they combine real-time 3D computer graphics, motion capture and video streaming sites like YouTube to create two-way interactions with audiences,” said Eiji Araki, a senior vice president at Gree Inc. While Activ8 doesn’t disclose technical details, its product is an almost seamless combination of lifelike movements, gestures and facial expressions, all of which contribute to the suspension of disbelief.

It’s a virtual influencer that can patronize real-world events. The technology allows Kizuna to interact with fans in real time at exhibitions, give interviews on live TV and perform in concerts. Sidestepping the labor-intensive and time-consuming process of traditional animation - ill-suited to the fast-paced world of YouTube content - Activ8 uses Hollywood-grade motion capture equipment to crank out music videos, skits and game streams just about every day for more than 4 million subscribers. “That presence is an important part of what makes them so appealing.” “What separates VTubers from regular anime characters is that you can believe they actually exist,” said Takeshi Osaka, founder of Activ8 Inc., the Tokyo-based company behind Kizuna Ai.

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