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This pink-haired artist and influencer, clad in a tracksuit, has not slept a wink after pulling an all-nighter at the office, she says.
“I sketched up some cute stuff. Don’t tell anyone I didn’t take a shower yet,” she adds, gazing intently at her laptop, pen in hand and surrounded by magazines.
However, imma is not the Japanese woman she appears to be on Instagram – she is not in fact a person at all.
Aww Inc, the company that developed imma, says she is Japan’s first virtual model.

She is not the only one – several others have cropped up on various social media sites.
Just like real models, they can also be found on fashion magazine covers, advertising products and even on concert stages, drawing thousands of viewers.
They’re kings and queens of social media – but they don’t exist
To optimise the optical illusion surrounding imma, she regularly shares photos on social media that show her interacting with real people.
She was recently spotted alongside Spanish cartoonist Joan Cornella at his exhibition opening in Tokyo in Japan, for example, or with DJ Steve Aoki and the reggaeton star Maluma.
As well as jet-setting from one fashion metropolis to the next, imma also regularly shares her feelings with her 400,000 IG followers.

“Since I was born, I’ve always hated being lonely,” she writes below a picture of herself wearing an outsize hoodie, carrying a black umbrella and looking sad. “What do you do when you’re lonely?”
In another post, she talks about having a fight with her brother.
These emotional statements show imma’s makers stretching the boundaries of what we expect of the virtual world, creating a personal bond by deliberately portraying their characters as vulnerable.

That seems to be working, if her legion of followers on Instagram are any indication.
When asked about the obvious artificiality of imma’s emotions, her creators point out that even real influencers are often accused of staging fake lives online – ultimately, people live so much in digital spaces that the border with reality is blurred.
“Everything we see online and in the media is a narrative, and every individual has the choice whether to believe it or not.”

This type of emotional appeal emanating from artificially created beings is highly problematic, says media analyst Oliver Zöllner of the Stuttgart Institute for Digital Ethics in Germany.
He would like to see more transparency around the programs that are being used, and says not everyone can immediately recognise that virtual influencers are not real people.
“Not every person is aware of the business models of data extraction and exploitation behind them either,” he adds.
Zöllner sees this as a form of exploitation that reaches deep into the core of human beings.

Virtual influencers are usually controlled by teams of people in the background, according to the website virtualhumans.org, which is run by industry insiders.
imma, for example, is brought to life in a studio, among other things with actors, through motion capture.
For some virtual influencers, artificial intelligence is involved, such as Kuki Ai, who talks to fans on her website through a chat robot. On social media, on the other hand, Kuki still has to be controlled by real humans, says virtualhumans.org.

Not only do virtual influencers express emotions, they can take a stance on issues. Lil Miquela, a virtual influencer with a huge following, is a successful musician, model and activist. Her Instagram profile features the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.
In one post, the 19-year-old shows her 2.8 million followers a photo of mascara-stained tears running down her face, accompanied by the phrase: “Normalise ugly crying in public.”
It is unclear whether her fans see this as authentic or not. Either way, Time magazine voted the influencer as one of the 25 most influential people online in 2018 – alongside then-US president Donald Trump and pop icon Rihanna.












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A post shared by Miquela (@lilmiquela)



What is also certain is that imma, Lil Miquela and their peers have an unbeatable advantage over their flesh-and-blood competitors for businesses – namely, they are not likely to do something unpredictably human and they are cheaper.
On the flipside, “as a human, you’ll also have them figured out quickly if you spend a little time with them. And they probably get boring quickly,” says Zöllner.
Zöllner sees indications that people will be invited further into virtual spaces by tech companies, “where we are supposed to interact with each other and also with virtual figures in a variety of ways”, and says it is up to the people themselves to create something from such technical possibilities that is useful for society.


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Icons and Influencers

Virtual influencers are posting crying selfies and opinions, and taking pictures with celebs and friends – blurring the line between digital and real life

Aww Inc, the company that developed imma, says she is Japan’s first virtual model. Photo: Instagram / @imma.gram

Virtual influencers like Japanese model imma (in the foreground above) command hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram – and they are becoming almost indistinguishable from real-life people. Photo: Instagram/@imma.gram

imma is Japan’s first virtual model. Photo: Instagram/@imma.gram

imma with DJ Steve Aoki (centre) and her virtual influencer brother Zinn. Photo: Instagram/@imma.gram

imma with Spanish cartoonist Joan Cornella (centre) at his exhibition opening in Tokyo in Japan. Photo: Instagram/@imma.gram

imma with the reggaeton star Maluma. Photo: Instagram/@imma.gram

imma is brought to life in a studio, among other things with actors, through motion capture. Photo: Instagram/@imma.gram

Kuki Ai talks to fans on her website through a chat robot. Photo: Instagram/@kuki_ai

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Jean-Claude van Damme and John Woo on the set of “Hard Target”. Photo: Universal Pictures

Jean-Claude van Damme in a still from “Hard Target”. John Woo’s first film in America, its production taught the Hong Kong director some hard lessons about Hollywood and star power. Photo: Universal Pictures

Danny Lee (left) and Chow Yun-fat in a still from “The Killer” (1989). 

John Woo in an interview with the Post in 1993. Photo: SCMP

Jean-Claude van Damme (centre) in a still from “Hard Target”. Photo: Universal Pictures

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Anthony Wong Chau-sang. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Anthony Wong Chau-sang will star in a production of  the 1996 play “Enigma Variations” to mark the 10th anniversary of the theatre company be co-founded. He talks about not worrying about censorship and keeping faith in Hong Kong. Photo: Jonathan Wong

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Wong in a still from “The Sunny Side of the Street”. Photo: Petra Films

Neo Yau Hawk-sau and Wong in a promotional photo for “Enigma Variations”. Photo: Dionysus Contemporary Theatre

Wong insists he “never left” Hong Kong, despite rumours that he is in the process of relocating to Taiwan. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Apple’s Vision Pro is the best AR and VR mixed-reality headset on the market and represents the future of computing – even at US$3,499, this tech writer says

Apple’s new Vision Pro mixed-reality AR and VR headset will go on sale in the US in early 2024 priced at US$3,499. Photo: Apple

The headset has a series of user-facing cameras and sensors inside the visor to track the eyes. Photo: AFP

Users navigate through the Apple Vision Pro using their eyes. Photo: Apple

The external battery for an Apple Vision Pro. Photo: Bloomberg

The Vision Pro’s eye-tracking mechanism. Photo: Apple

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Toddler Zhang Chongren at the knee of his silk embroiderer mother. Illustration: Samuel Porteous

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Belgian cartoonist Hergé (left) and Zhang at the Cinquantenaire Park in Brussels in the 1930s. Photo: Getty Images

The three ages of Zhang: a) young man working with Hergé, b) middle aged, c) elderly Zhang, and d) their avatars Tintin and Chang on the desk. Illustration: Samuel Porteous

Zhang during the Cultural Revolution enduring the criticism sessions by discreetly practising his calligraphy while being berated. Illustration: Samuel Porteous

Hergé welcomes his friend back to Belgium after 46 years apart. Photo: Getty Images

Zhang holds copies of The Blue Lotus and Tintin in Tibet. Photo: Getty Images

An elderly Zhang with the public statue of Nie Er. Illustration: Samuel Porteous

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Teo Yoo (left), Celine Song and Greta Lee at a New York screening of “Past Lives”. Photo: Matt Licari/Invision/AP

Celine Song explains why a real life moment between her, her husband and a childhood sweetheart was so pivotal to the creation of her debut film “Past Lives”. Photo: Matt Licari/Invision/AP

Celine Song at the New York screening of “Past Lives” in May, 2023. Photo: TNS

Teo Yoo, Song and Greta Lee at the May 2023 screening of “Past Lives” in New York. Photo: Matt Licari/Invision/AP

Song and Lee on the set of “Past Lives”. Photo: AP

Lee and Yoo in a still from “Past Lives”. Photo: A24

Yoo, Song, Lee and John Magaro on the red carpet for “Past Lives” at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2023. Photo: AFP

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These influencers have millions of people following their every post, from public breakdowns to their attending art shows. The kicker – they are not real people
Virtual influencers are becoming increasingly lifelike – not just in appearance but in personality – and are blurring the line between the digital and real life


Virtual influencers like imma, Kuki Ai and Lil Miquela command hundreds of thousands, or millions, of followers on Instagram – and they are becoming almost indistinguishable from real-life people.
