Day 3635: Virtually.

 

"Tired Sunflowers": ink, junk mail collage.

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Click here:  Marvin Gaye, After the Dance.

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2GN2S ...

The rise of virtual influencers.

Forever young, beautiful and scandal-free: The rise of South Korea's virtual influencers. She's got more than 130,000 followers on Instagram, where she posts photos of her globetrotting adventures. Her makeup is always impeccable, her clothes look straight off the runway. She sings, dances and models -- and none of it is real.

Rozy is a South Korean "virtual influencer," a digitally rendered human so realistic she is often mistaken for flesh and blood.  "Are you a real person?" one of her Instagram fans asks. "Are you an AI? Or a robot?"  Lee Na-kyoung, a 23-year-old living in Incheon, began following Rozy about two years ago thinking she was a real person. Rozy followed her back, sometimes commenting on her posts, and a virtual friendship blossomed -- one that has endured even after Lee found out the truth."We communicated like friends and I felt comfortable with her -- so I don't think of her as an AI but a real friend," Lee said.

According to the Seoul-based company that created her, Rozy is a blend of all three who straddles the real and virtual worlds. She is "able to do everything that humans cannot, in the most human-like form," Sidus Studio X says on its website.That includes raking in profits  in the multi-billion dollar advertising and entertainment worlds.

And she's not alone. The "virtual human" industry is booming, and with it a whole new economy in which the influencers of the future are never-aging, scandal-free and digitally flawless -- sparking alarm among some in a country already obsessed with unobtainable beauty standards.

 

An image of Lucy, the Korean virtual human used by Lotte Home Shopping.

 

Lotte Home Shopping hires human hosts to advertise products on TV -- but they "cost quite a lot," and "there will be changes when they age," Lee said. So, they came up with Lucy, who is "forever 29 years old."

"Lucy is not limited to time or space," he added. "She can appear anywhere. And there are no moral issues."

How virtual influencers work

The CGI (computer-generated imagery) technology behind Rozy isn't new. It is ubiquitous in today's entertainment industry, where artists use it to craft realistic nonhuman characters in movies, computer games and music videos. But it has only recently been used to make influencers. Sometimes, Sidus Studio X creates an image of Rozy from head to toe using the technology, an approach that works well for her Instagram images. Other times it superimposes her head onto the body of a human model -- when she models clothing, for instance.

An image of Lucy, the Korean virtual human used by Lotte Home Shopping.

Social media doesn't just enable virtual influencers to build a fanbase -- it's where the money rolls in.

Rozy's Instagram, for instance, is dotted with sponsored content where she advertises skincare and fashion products. "Many big companies in Korea want to use Rozy as a model," said Baik Seung-yup, the CEO of Sidus Studio X. "This year, we expect to easily reach over two billion Korean won (about $1.52 million) in profit, just with Rozy." He added that as Rozy grew more popular, the company landed more sponsorships from luxury brands such as Chanel and Hermes, as well as magazines and other media companies. Her ads have now appeared on television, and even in offline spaces like billboards and the sides of buses.

 

image of Rozy, developed by Sidus Studio X

The models are in high demand because they help brands reach younger consumers, experts say. Rozy's clients include a life insurance firm and a bank -- companies typically seen as old-fashioned. "But they say their image has become very young after working with Rozy," Baik said. It also helps that, compared to some of their real-life counterparts, these new stars are low-maintainance. And, perhaps just as important: virtual influencers never age, tire or invite controversy.

 "Like any disruptive technology, synthetic media has the potential for both good and harm. Issues of representation, cultural appropriation and expressive liberty are already a growing concern," the company said in a blog post.

 

 * Hmmm, humans replaced, in my lifetime.

 

I have been back in karate since January 7th, after my doctor checked both shoulders progress after full replacements. I was so happy to be back. I wore and am still wearing a white belt. Better to look like an okay white belt than a questionable black belt? I helped with testing, and while helping some little yellow belts, I caught them checking out my white belt, but they said nothing. Muscle memory is amazing, so the katas are coming back, the mind memory is apparently a little slower. But I have no complaints. Being 80, and in my 50th year in Karate is pretty good.
 

Many of you ask about Demura Sensei.

He was just back recently from finishing his part in the above movie. It was filmed in New Jersey, and will be out February 2023. I asked him if it was fun, and he said the speaking part was hard. I said, I am sure it will be perfect, after all, Pat Morita copied Demura Sensei's speech patterns. There is another movie coming, where he will be a yakusa boss, so the speech part will be more to his liking.

 

Demura Sensei was also off to Minnesota for their dojo and Fritz Speck's 50th anniversary.  Traveling is difficult, but he loves to be with his students.

 

He still directs day class training daily, and all this while having daily dialysis. I know it is hard for him to not be able to do some of the physical things that he did spectacularly, but he doesn't complain. I told him he is our inspiration and he is teaching us the biggest lesson now.

 

 

 

 

An cute 1+minute video, Highland calves, here.

 

Just because ...

 

Buff-rumped Thornbill

 

 

Smiles for Tuesday ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                               Thanks for coming by today