China’s virtual idols with digital avatars and human voices: meet the live-stream kings and queens of Bilibili
- China is seeing a rise in popularity of virtual idols – real people who live-stream behind an animated face
- Bilibili plans to stage a concert of virtual idols in Shanghai on December 19. The event will feature 16 Chinese and 14 Japanese virtual entertainers
During a marathon live-stream on popular Chinese video platform Bilibili last month, Hiseki Erio performed for nine hours straight to 90,000 online viewers, of whom more than 3,000 were premium subscribers to her channel. The number of paying followers she has rose to 8,000 after the performance in October.
It is hard to decide which is more impressive: her stamina and ability to chat and sing non-stop for such a long time; the fact some 27,000 viewers showered her with digital gifts (that can be converted into real currency) during her show; or that at least some of her 448,000 fans are willing to pay 200 yuan (US$30) a month to her channel for premium membership.
What makes the Japanese-speaking Erio stand out from other stars is that she is also a virtual idol.
Unlike Vocaloids (digital avatars manipulated and run by computer programs), virtual idols are something of a digital-analogue hybrid: avatars in the form of an animation or hologram but with a real human voice, and with movements and facial expressions based on those of a real person.
