VTuber
A VTuber (Japanese: ブイチューバー, Hepburn: BuiChūbā) or virtual YouTuber (バーチャルユーチューバー, bācharu YūChūbā) is an online entertainer who uses a virtual avatar made using computer graphics. Real-time motion capture software or technology are often used to make the avatar move. VTubers originated in Japan in the mid-2010s, and have become internationally popular in the 2020s.[1][2] Most VTubers are English- and Japanese-speaking YouTubers or live streamers who use avatars. By 2020, there were more than 10,000 active VTubers.[3]
The first entertainer to use the phrase "virtual YouTuber", Kizuna AI, began making videos on YouTube in late 2016. Her popularity inspired several other VTubers in Japan. Several agencies were created to promote them, including Hololive Production, Nijisanji, and VShojo. Fan translations and foreign-language VTubers have caused VTubers to become internationally popular.[4]
References
[change | change source]- ↑ "Japan's virtual YouTubers have millions of real subscribers — and make millions of real dollars". Rest of World. July 26, 2021. Archived from the original on February 6, 2022. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
- ↑ "Virtual YouTubers behind famous avatars in Japan make millions from superfans". South China Morning Post. 9 May 2022.
- ↑ "ユーザーローカル、バーチャルYouTuberの1万人突破を発表 9000人から4ヵ月で1000人増". PANORA. January 15, 2020. Archived from the original on January 31, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
- ↑ Chen, James (November 30, 2020). "The Vtuber takeover of 2020". Polygon. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
