Web3 radically redefines the way ubiquitous evergreen IPs are created, distributed and scaled.
Blockchain shifts the power to creators and gives them back ownership and control of their audience. For the first time, fans have the opportunity to actively engage in building and becoming part of an IP. To unwrap the full potential of Web3-native IP in the form of virtual creators, this article will dive into three main points:
- The evolution of virtual creator IP: past vs. future
- The transformation of IP through blockchain — Web3 IP
- IP creation & distribution tools of the future
We envision blockchain-native IP as the bridge connecting present-day social media to future metaverse platforms.
Originally published at Mirror.xyz.
WHY VIRTUAL CREATORS?
- 440.3B USD virtual human market value by 2031 (Allied Market Research)
- 200M+ total views on Tiktok (Lil Princess Ember)
- 3.5M followers (Lil Miquela)
- 200+ brand partnerships in 12 months (via Storyclash)
- 216 commercial BAYC licenses granted in less than 10 days (Made by Apes)
Here are the 3 main reasons we’re excited about Web3 virtual creators/IPs:
- Creator-community relationship dynamics are more authentic and inherent than ever before. The building block nature of NFTs enables a more participative and mutually rewarding ecosystem.
- Quicker feedback loops foster the development and iteration of new IPs. Additionally, direct community participation allows creators to incentivise and recognise exceptional contributions, cultivating a superfan community within their ecosystem.
- Web3 expands the creator economy and introduces new channels of user-generated content (UGC) creation, distribution and monetisation. In a composable and collaborative virtual economy, virtual creators build economies around their IP which incentivise community contributions that expand their ecosystem.
- Metaverses enable direct and immersive touchpoints with IP. They are a field for creative expression, experiences and interactions, a place for IP economies to thrive.
Note: In this article, we’re using virtual personas, creators and identities interchangeably.
KEY MOMENTS OF THE VIRTUAL CREATOR / IP REVOLUTION
IP and characters have a long history, originating from literature and film. Today, character IP brands represent the most immediate and immersive form of a brand, enabling the audience to directly engage with it. We argue that in the near future, every brand will take on a face or a persona — whether as a brand creator, ambassador, or virtual muse — bridging the divide between the age of social media and spatial computing.
The predecessor of modern digital influencers was a mannequin called Cynthia, a socialite of the 30s who attended parties, received gifts from Tiffany and Dior, had a cover story in LIFE Magazine and even starred in a movie.
Cynthia exemplified how a fictional persona can integrate into real society and build a career across various industries.
Max Headroom — the pre-internet TV celebrity of the 80s
Max Headroom, a fictional TV personality from Channel 4 in the UK, was a pioneer who set an example for new virtual personas to come, making virtual celebrities culturally acceptable and popular. He starred in commercials with Michael Jordan, became a global spokesperson of New Coke and was the first virtual persona to lead his own TV shows. His contributions to creative art and sound direction were acknowledged by the Emmy Committee, earning him three awards.
Max’s influence on virtual personas
Transitioning between broadcast channels and commercials, Max seemed interoperable across channels within a digital parallel universe. Max’s influence can be found in pop culture eg. in Eminem’s video for his song
Max pioneered the low-poly aesthetic, which would later become mainstream with characters like those in Toy Story during the 1990s. His appearance was achieved using makeup, prosthetics, and green screens.
A video explaining Max’s story can be found here.
Gorillaz — the first real, virtual band
Gorillaz is a virtual band that pioneered storytelling beyond music, using personal social media, games and mixed reality shows. Formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, the band brought to life a digital IP for each of the four band members Stuart ‘2-D’ Pot, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle and Russell Hobbs.
Gorillaz innovated the virtual persona space through:
- Anonymity
- Storytelling
- Immersion
Gorillaz’s answer to the hollow aspects of pop culture in the late 90s was to create a band that blended the borders between the physical and digital worlds and breathed life into each band member with a unik personality, history and social media presence.
Anonymity
Gorillaz was conceived as an anonymous band known for its music, rather than its already accomplished creators, Damon and Jamie. They managed to maintain their anonymity for a while by producing music videos, giving interviews and performing concerts exclusively as virtual band members.
Storytelling
Storytelling is a fundamental aspect of Gorillaz culture. Each band member has a unik personality, a set of skills, and imperfections that are revealed primarily through music videos and individual social media profiles. Gorillaz’s content revolves around narratives detailing how the band members crossed paths, the factors influencing album creation and the troubles they frequently get themselves into.
Immersion
To bring their virtual artists to life, Gorillaz initiated concerts with 2D animated performances on screens or as 3D holograms. They also made guest appearances on popular TV shows of the 2000s, such as MTV Cribs, and took part in interviews, like NME’s. Furthermore, they released a game called Final Drive allowing users to drive the band’s Geep. Later, the band members established personal social media accounts using 3D avatars and launched a Discord channel to share regular life updates. Adding depth to the immersion of the virtual band characters is the fact that all band members age over time.
In 2022, Gorillaz made an immersive presentation of a single Skinny Ape as an AR experience simultaneously on Times Square and Piccadilly Circus.
Hatsune Miku — More than an instrument with a face
The Vocaloid sensation Hatsune Miku is a 16-year-old computer-generated singer and is based on Crypton Future Media’s software Vocaloid, a singing voice synthesizer. Miku and her fan-created music set an example for virtual artists of how fan-based art and involvement can drive success. Since official appearances are limited to on-stage performances, it is Miku’s fans who define her character through their content. By collaborating with notable figures such as Lady Gaga and Pharrell Williams, she has left a lasting imprint on the virtual persona sphere. She pioneered:
- Fan co-creation on a dedicated collaboration platform
- UGC: Derivative fan art & superfan culture
- Immersion: Hologram concerts
Fan co-creation on a dedicated collaboration platform
Miku’s extraordinary success commenced when a song, produced using the Vocaloid software, accompanied by her first animation, reached 1M views in under 26 days. Since then, her lyrics, music, and animations have been predominantly crafted by fans. PIAPRO.jp is Miku’s consumer-focused media platform where fans collaborate and share ideas. Her fans regularly engage in activities such as package design contests (2021), with the winning illustration shown at the Hatsune Miku Chronicle exhibition.
Miku’s creations can be viewed as partly decentralised as her audience actively participates in decision-making processes. For instance, Crypton sought input from its Japanese fan base about marketing Miku as a virtual singer in the U.S., despite being marketed as a virtual instrument in Japan.
UGC: Derivative fan art
Her immense popularity prompted fans to produce derivative artworks, featuring characters inspired by Miku. Many of these derivative creations have spawned their own fan communities.
Immersion: Hologram concerts
Beyond her holographic concerts, she makes appearances in education, music textbooks and magazines. Her branded products and fan merchandise have surpassed 70M USD in revenue.
Lil Miquela — virtual lifestyle influencer
Miquela Sousa, a 19-year-old humanoid robot residing in Los Angeles has earned recognition as one of TIME Magazine’s 25 Most Influential People on the Internet. Her social media debut in 2016 propelled CGI-generated virtual influencers into the mainstream, paving the way for other virtual personas in the future. We look into:
- Bringing virtual influencers to the mainstream
- Building a career beyond socials
Bringing virtual influencers to the mainstream
Miquela Sousa is a virtual influencer with 2.7M followers on Instagram and 3.5M on TikTok with view rates between 400K and 12M. Miquela made a change in the perception of CGI characters being fake. She resonates with audiences due to her relatable qualities, diverse ethnic backgrounds, awkward and distinctive bangs and openly sharing her love-life drama via her Instagram account.
By involving fans directly in her content creation, including letting them influence her posts and responding to their comments during Q&A sessions, Miquela enhances her authenticity in the eyes of her fans.
Brud FYI, the studio that created Lil Miquela in 2016, also brought to life her two virtual friends Blawko and Bermuda who, until the end of 2022, made regular appearances in Miquela’s content.
Building a career beyond socials
Besides being a lifestyle influencer, Miquela is a musician and has released 10 songs to date. Her highest streams were achieved by her own version of the song Sims by Rauv reaching 65.5M streams. She also interviewed music stars like J Balvin.
In 2019, she created her own clothing line called Club 404 Not Found (now discontinued) as announced by HypeBeast and landed numerous fashion brand partnerships.
Lil Princess Ember — social media-native IP
Ember, a virtual content creator is a TikTok-native with a following of 1.8M, a total of 200M+ views and a 4x engagement rate. She was brought to life by Invisible Universe, an internet-first animation studio specialising in developing new IP franchises through social media. Ember achieves high engagement rates due to her strong connections with fans. She helps drive a culture of new, social media-native IP brands.
- Audience interaction & storytelling
- Product partnerships
Audience interaction & storytelling
Ember has successfully built a community of supporters through interactive content via her TikTok and YouTube channels. This content includes room tours, regular AMAs, styling tips (with product references), and duets. Her evolving narrative unfolds through diverse content formats where she shares her opinions, habits and snippets of her story.
Ember’s content format is a constant dialogue with her audience, facilitated through comments and video responses. This approach allows her team to gain insights into audience interests and swiftly iterate on ideas by responding to their requests. Her responses create opportunities to reveal more information about her ( distant mountains), and other characters and spark community speculation. Over time, this dynamic approach can lead to the expansion of different product lines.
Product partnerships
Similar to traditional social media influencers, Ember engages in brand partnerships such as her recent partnership with Zepeto. She subtly promotes her favourite items like styling, makeup and interior design products and responds with her Amazon link when followers inquire about these items. In contrast to Miquela’s hyper-realistic look, Ember’s cartoony, stylised look with flat designs draws parallels to virtual and gaming worlds, forging a connection to the virtual economy.
Pre-Web3 virtual personas have already proven themselves to be equally if not more captivating and successful content creators and artists. Each virtual persona we’ve examined has grown into a recognised IP brand, contributing to the widespread acceptance of mixed reality and virtual narratives.
That said, today’s IPs are still dependent on social platforms that largely control their fan base, discovery algorithms and monetisation methods. We believe that crypto-native virtual personas will establish greater equity and freedom in IP production, distribution and monetisation.
TRANSFORMATION OF IP THROUGH WEB3 — FROM PFPS TO LEGACY BRANDS
Web3 IP brands are currently in the midst of evolving into global legacy brands. When we refer to Web3 IP, we are talking about creative work in the form of digital assets that are blockchain-based, enabling users to fully own and govern them due to their inherent verifiability and uniqueness. Web3 IPs have the potential to grow faster and more sustainably compared to traditional IPs thanks to:
- New types of IP distribution
- The community-first approach that is leading Web3 IP development
- The future of IP — Crypto-native digital identities
New types of IP distribution
The PFP Boom
Born out of the NFT PFP boom in 2021, a range of IP brands came into being. NFT projects with modest communities and a common mission have transformed into profitable enterprises with globally recognised IP. Community members have adopted their community PFPs as their digital identity, organically extending the reach of the original IP. In a space where interactions occur pseudonymously and digital communication prevails, NFT PFPs signal evidence of values, status and belonging.
Layer 2 IP
The practice of gifting or licensing IP to NFT holders, as demonstrated by projects like Bored Ape Yacht Club, World of Women and Nouns, triggered the emergence of Layer 2 IP. This approach led to the creation of new narratives or extensions of the original storyline. Notable examples include Applied Primate Engineering (A.P.E.), Mutant Hounds & Mutant Cartel and Jenkins the Valet; all of which use Yuga Labs IP as a foundation for their project narratives.
The project Jenkins the Valet, which focuses on storytelling, initially started as an effort to develop background stories for BAYC PFP characters (Apes). This approach allowed them to tap into an existing Ape community while expanding the ecosystem and attracting new fans to the original IP issuer. Jenkins was among the first Web3 IPs signed by the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) to be represented across books, TV, media, podcasts and more. The project also introduced Writers Room, a token-gated storytelling community that builds new IPs. Writers Room allows Ape owners to license the IP rights of their Ape NFTs to become part of the story.
The licenses enable NFT owners to explore new use cases and monetisation opportunities for tokenised IPs. What does this mean for Yuga Labs, the creator of BAYC IP? It means elevated network effects. Individual BAYC IPs are spread across multiple business domains, creating new products, brands, and collaborations between projects. This, in turn, enhances the recognition and distribution of the original BAYC IP without the need for marketing spending.
NFT IP has ventured into the realm of film and TV. In an announcement made in October 2022, a partnership between the World of Women community and the media giant Hello Sunshine, Reese Witherspoon’s production company, revealed plans to bring WoW’s IP characters to life in feature films, scripted and unscripted TV series, live events and more. For the community, it can mean that by casting and licensing their WoW NFTs, they might earn royalties for their tokenised IPs, opening new revenue channels.
Most recently, on 13th September, Yuga Labs introduced their licensing platform Made By Apes designed to facilitate the licensing process for all BAYC, MAYC and BAKC holders. Leveraging the blockchain protocol’s automation of contracts and royalty transfers, the platform streamlines the scaling of Ape IP, ultimately enhancing the original IP’s value. SaaSy Labs created the underlying protocol that facilitates legal agreements.
Web3 IP spin-offs
The emergence of spin-offs using existing IPs triggered a surge in personal brands and virtual personas. These sub-communities often achieve equal or greater reach than the original IP. This symbiotic relationship benefits both the original IP and its spin-offs, creating a win-win partnership.
Sub-communities
These emerging sub-communities primarily revolve around speculative narratives concerning the latest developments within the original IP. For instance, within the 10KTF project, sub-communities like Speculation Alley and 10ktf.wtf have sprung up. Both produce their own educational content based on the 10KTF IP and more, aiding both existing and new members in navigating the project. This creates network effects wherein the community expands the brand’s reach by creating UGC without utilising any marketing funds from the original IP. Thanks to NFTs, the original IP can now reward and incentivise UGC through token distribution, as illustrated by 10KTF.
The community-first approach is leading Web3 IP development
NFT projects introduced a new concept of how brands can be bootstrapped with minimal budgets and risks, inevitably leading up to the democratisation of IP.
NFT projects were built largely by engaging their community in decision-making. Their community activities shaped their brands on a long-term basis. Max Headroom, the original virtual persona, maintained an ongoing interaction with his TV audience, but it was somewhat indirect due to technological limits.
The latest generation of virtual creators, such as Ember and Lil Miquela, employ a similar yet more advanced approach by iterating based on community feedback and utilising firsthand community insights to guide content decisions. In the next phase of IP creation, community-driven IP creation, participants will have the opportunity to hold a stake in the creator’s success and benefit from their achievements. Creators can thus incentivise and reward their community for participation. This is a gradual shift towards the democratisation of IP development, led by crypto-native IP.
The future of IP — Crypto-native digital identities
Wagmi-san: Community & Game asset composability
Wagmi-san is a digital artisan who runs 10KTF (= 10K True Frens), one of the most prominent Web3 NFT projects that has significantly influenced the NFT landscape through an interactive narrative, gamification, and a cross-community strategy. 10KTF strategically positioned itself as a project that unifies various communities in one narrative inside the Yuga Labs ecosystem. In an effort to save his artisan shop, Wagmi-san accelerated the development of:
- Cross-community storytelling
- Community loyalty through game asset composability
- Commitment-based native PFPs
Cross-community storytelling
While the majority of teams in 2021 were dropping PFP collections with close to zero utilities, 10KTF stood apart by enabling holders of 24 selected projects to craft digital fashion assets using their avatars/PFPs as skins. This made 10KTF a popular NFT project that did not issue PFPs but instead fostered a highly engaged community through speculative storytelling and asset customisation.
This approach allowed them to tap into existing communities and offer additional value (utility) to holders of other projects. It also served as a testament to how the transparent and permissionless nature of blockchain enables brands to directly target another’s customer base to offer exclusive access, assets and features.
Wagmi-san’s narrative has been shaped by brand partnerships, collections, and community engagement activities, all of which place participants at the core of the experience, and turn them into the protagonist of the narrative.
Community loyalty through game asset composability
As part of the narrative, holders of NFT PFPs from select communities had the opportunity to craft unik, 1 of 1 digital wearable at Wagmi-san’s shop. By monitoring wallet activity, early supporters who minted an asset were surprised with airdrops containing the necessary crafting tools. Crafting mechanisms resembled the composability mechanics in games like Minecraft. The personalised, game-ready assets can potentially be used on the Otherside.
Throughout seasons, 10KTF experimented with diverse incentive systems. In Season I, Wagmi-san airdropped limited crafting tools and materials through airdrops to community members, rewarding the most dedicated individuals and wallets. Since crafting new items required both rare tools and materials, asset holders could stake them, earning interest each time others used these assets to create new ones.
Before commencing Season II, the team distributed some of these NFT assets to support community-led projects (like the Rise Wagmi-San podcast) which, in turn, could reward listeners and expand their reach through giveaways.
Commitment-based Native PFPs
In contrast to OG-NFT PFP collections, Season II of the 10KTF narrative introduced a novel approach to minting the project’s native PFPs. Participants were able to gain Badges and Popcorns (first off-chain, then on-chain), and in-game points by participating in solo Missions and solo/team Bounties. By the end of the season, participants had the opportunity to allocate these points, influencing the class and rarity of the final 10KTF PFP collection.
This process allowed them to define their persona as a part of the ecosystem. Additionally, some points moved on-chain before fusion, enabling game participants to trade or purchase popcorn to enhance their PFPs. You can learn more about G-Tags, in-game points, fusion and other in-game mechanics on the official website.
gmoney — building trust-based and community-centred Web3 brands
gmoney is a leading thinker and investor in the Web3 realm and the founder of 9dcc, a luxury brand that bridges the physical and digital worlds. His journey in the world of Web3 commenced as an anonymous thought leader, adopting an iconic Crypto Punk PFP featuring an orange hat as his digital persona. We delve into:
- Web3 personal branding — doxxing yourself in Web3
- Authentic and gamified community building
- Building a metaverse-ready lifestyle brand
Web3 personal branding — doxxing yourself in Web3
In the Web3 realm, doxxing is a term used to describe the act of revealing your face or revealing one’s face or disclosing your identity. Gmoney’s identity was closely linked with his Crypto Punk PFP featuring an iconic orange beanie until he unveiled his identity prior to launching his brand 9dcc. Utilising an AR filter for public appearances, he succeeded in constructing one of the most trusted personal brands within the NFT and Web3 space. Since the beginning, he rewarded attendees of his X spaces with collectables as a gesture of gratitude. His revelation likely served as a move aimed at enhancing trust and credibility for 9dcc.
Authentic and gamified community building
Gmoney conducted a successful experiment that facilitated the development of a robust community across both the digital and physical worlds. Since the early days of his brand 9dcc, he organised activities for his community members and supporters, such as this year’s treasure hunt during NFT.NYC. For the hunt, participants embarked on a quest to find and visit gmoney’s favourite locations in NYC, receiving a POAP and a physical pin at each stop.
The core of Gmoney’s brand revolves around its community and the 9dcc ecosystem incorporates a network effect that places the community at its centre. Every holder of a 9dcc item has the ability to distribute their own POAPs embedded with chips (and create their own .9dcc domain). This empowers community members to build their own, sub-communities based on their 9dcc domains. The POAP leaderboard on the 9dcc platform incentivises members to distribute and collect each others’ tokens.
Building a metaverse-ready wearables brand
Gmoney’s brand, 9dcc, is a trailblazer in the realm of luxury brands blending the physical and digital metaverse worlds through fashion. gmoney believes in the importance of digital wearables for our future digital identities within the metaverse and places the utmost importance on his community for building his brand legacy. Notably, the models featured in his 9dcc campaigns are all 9dcc community members.
Gmoney delves into the details of his story in our FoW3 podcast.
Angelbaby
Angelbaby represents a novel breed of unik virtual creators determined to overcome the barriers of the music industry. Their goal is to build more direct relationships with their fans through storytelling, membership programs, and music NFTs, allowing the community to actively participate in the creative process.
As the first metaverse-native virtual musician, Angelbaby is a pivotal figure within Hume and the virtual persona space overall. Hume is a record label and collective of metastars which Hume defines as a “metaverse-native, universally influential, virtual music artist who exists in both the metaverse and the physical world”. Angelbaby’s distinctive rabbit avatar is based on a Fluf World ‘s NFT which makes them a Layer 2 IP.
- Co-creation/participation: Community voting & tiers
- On-chain music & immersive concerts
- Cross-project personas
Community voting & tiers
Hume transforms the role of fans in the creative process of the artist, enabling them to participate in decision-making. Owning the Hume Genesis NFT allows fans to become a member of the Hume ecosystem and narrative. Depending on the rarity tier (4 tiers), fans possess varying degrees of influence in shaping the lives and music of Hume’s Angelbaby and future metastars. Holders are invited to enter , a token-gated platform where they can make decisions, partake in experiences and access exclusive drops.
On-chain music & immersive concerts Cross-project personas
Angelbaby has released 6 songs that are collectable via Sound.xyz and frequently collaborates with other artists. They made their first live debut at Art Basel in December 2021, using a large projection screen for an immersive show.
Cross-project personas
Angelbaby exemplifies the cross-project nature of Web3, frequently collaborating with artists and engaging with friends across both Web2 and NFT worlds. For instance, Angelbaby’s orange-haired CloneX (girl)friend (pictured above) is part of RTFKT’s universe.
THE FUTURE OF IP — CRYPTO-NATIVE DIGITAL IDENTITIES
Creating virtual creators
To outline the development process of a virtual creator, we separated it into the three main stages below:
- Tokenised IP inception
- Bring your IP to life
- Distribution of your IP
Tokenised IP inception
The origin of the IP can vary, originally created by yourself or licenced to you through an NFT creator/project. Crypto-native IP still faces IP regulation challenges. However, the Web3 startup Story Protocol aims to eliminate the friction of registering IP and setting its rights by building a blockchain-based IP repository and licensing management platform.
Bring your IP to life
When it comes to creating 3D avatars out of your IP, Daz3D and Unreal Engine’s Metahumans offer plenty of freedom to create and/or customise characters without the need for 3D modelling skills. Blender, a free 3D modelling tool, allows you to create a character from scratch or modify existing ones. Ready Player Me offers standardised avatars with basic customisation features for most immersive platforms. Additionally, the creative team behind Lil Miquela is working on AvatarOS, an AI-enabled avatar platform designed to unlock the potential of next-gen digital humans.
For 3D productions, AI-based tools like Wonder Studios enable you to overlay your character onto an actor in a pre-recorded scene. This tool automatically animates, lights, and composes a CG character into a scene. Various body-tracking tools are available, each requiring different hardware depending on the desired quality. These tools are combined with game engines and virtual production software such as Unreal Engine and Unity to build scenes and record sequences. Co-creating or licensing IP is possible via platforms like Storyverse and Adimverse where you will be able to connect with others to co-create IP and share rewards.
Distribution of your IP
Licensing IP using Web3-based services enables a transparent and reliable licensing process, both for the licensor and the licensee. Emerging licensing tools and protocols provide improved control, income management, and monetisation options for IP creators.
In May of this year, the first Bored Ape #2758 secured a movie deal with a salary that adheres to the standard of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) for actors, marking a significant milestone for Web3-native IP.
In November 2021, Universal’s 10:22PM, a Web3 recording label that describes itself as designed to turn NFTs into media properties, formed the first metaverse-native, virtual music group called Kingship. All four members are Yuga Labs NFTs (Three BAYC and one MAYC) owned by Jimmy “j1mmy” McNelis, the licensor. Later in 2022, Universal acquired another BAYC NFT, a female character, Manager Noët All, to become the band’s virtual manager and landed a deal with candy brand Mars (M&M’s) based on the Kingship characters.
Companies like Storyverse have enabled anyone to create stories using the platform’s partnered PFP IPs. Users can choose their preferred IP characters (PFP NFTs) and backgrounds (the world) and then craft stories that allow these characters to interact. By incorporating OpenAI technology, users can generate stories with text prompts.
Web2 and 3 brands as well as creators are eager to participate in the metaverse movement and are collaborating with platforms to make their IP assets interoperable. Bringing existing IP into metaverse realms is one of the missions of Spaceport, a company that has developed a licensing protocol replacing licensing processes with smart contracts, enabling faster IP monetisation.
It is worth noting that Web3 IP still faces distribution limitations in current social media ecosystems as the existing platforms restrict digital creators in their ability to cultivate strong audience relationships. Currently, creator-fan interactions on these platforms often resemble one-way streets with limited participation.
Blockchain-based tools have the potential to transform these relationships into more interactive and participatory experiences.
AI and Autonomous virtual personas
An additional step toward creating autonomous virtual personas is achieved through AI, enabling a significant shift from virtual personas to lifelike, self-sufficient virtual people who not only create content but also become our friends and team members. This is pushing the boundaries to a point where distinguishing between real individuals and AI-based beings becomes increasingly challenging:
- Full AI-based content creation: The Simulation
- News: Meta’s AI-based assistants
- Interacting with your favourite creators 24/7
Full AI-based content creation: The Simulation
Fable Studios argues that in order to connect emotionally with virtual beings, they need real lives, to operate in space and time, have bodies, and struggle with living like us. Fable Studios has developed the Wizard Engine, an innovative platform for creating AI-driven virtual beings. What sets these beings apart from traditional NPCs is their coherence, persistence, and memory. The engine breathes life into these virtual entities by handling generation, distribution, and memory processes, for natural dialogue, language, and animation.
News: Meta’s AI-based assistants
With its new AI assistant feature, Meta takes a leap toward mainstream acceptance of virtual personas while leveraging the familiarity people have with existing celebrities. At the Meta Connect conference, the company introduced a collection of AI-based virtual assistants, some of which are embodied by real-world celebrities like Paris Hilton, Snoop Dogg, and Kendall Jenner, who contributed their faces and voices to training the new assistants.
These AI assistants will be omnipresent across the Meta ecosystem, accessible through platforms like WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, making them available to users around the clock. This will likely add a personal touch to user interactions, making products feel more like companions.
Interacting with your favourite creators 24/7
AI-based tools are a powerful way to foster direct connections between creators and their fans, all the time. Afterparty has created a way for fans to engage with their favourite cultural icons, enabling fans to interact with an AI version of the creator through text, voice, and photo/video messages. Since each interaction is unique and personal, creators continually nurture their community relationships without the need for individualised engagement.
Challenges and considerations
There are important challenges to overcome from the creation to the distribution of Web3-native IP. With a myriad of creation tools available, there currently remains a lack of seamlessness between these services, specifically, those tools that promise to effortlessly generate video content. Additionally, hardware limitations can pose challenges, as rendering often demands powerful GPU-equipped PCs.
In the realm of innovation, the availability of extensive AI tools for content production is often accompanied by their potential misuse. While these tools foster creative freedom, they also introduce new issues, including copyright concerns related to the algorithm and its governing decision-making processes. Instances like deepfakes and unauthorised copies or alterations of copyrighted content not only impact those being imitated but also society as a whole. This raises the issue of digital authenticity, an area that blockchain will help resolve.
It is also worth mentioning that people are expressing concerns about the dehumanisation or the potential loss of human connections through AI and around 16% of Americans are concerned about the misuse of the data gained from individuals and for it to be used by hackers. This is an important topic to address as (virtual) AI assistants increasingly become part of our lives.
CONCLUSION — WEB3 IP LEADS THE WAY TO THE METAVERSE
We stand at the dawn of a new era for IP, where its creation, monetisation and distribution are transformed. Web2 IPs such as Lil Miquela managed to build communities and connect with fans in ways that were not possible for pre-internet personas like Max. However, they still faced limitations such as platform dependency, where platforms control their fan base, discovery algorithms and monetisation methods.
With Web3, an infrastructure is established that empowers creators to gain autonomy and ownership over their fan base. This opens opportunities for direct engagement and participation in the creator’s success for deeper and more meaningful relationships. Spatial computing technologies are gaining prominence in the mainstream and will gradually be integrated into our daily lives. Through the launch of products such as the Apple VisionPro, we anticipate the emergence of entirely new levels of immersive experiences and interactions with IP.
The convergence of Web3 infrastructure, spatial computing and AI will shape the next-gen creator-fan relationships in the metaverse, which is the creative playground facilitating these engagements. While we firmly believe that virtual personas, being digital natives, are leading the way to immersive, fan-centred experiences, they will also be tasked with confronting people’s initial biases and fears about virtual personas and AI.
We are excited to build the infrastructure for immersive, authentic and mutually rewarding creator-fan relationships together with, and for, the next-gen of digital creators.
📌 Reach out to continue the discussion with us on Linkedin or Twitter! 👀
Thanks to Sasan, Marco, Isaac, David and Sallyann for the conversations that helped us think through these ideas and the extensive feedback on this article.
Originally published at Mirror.xyz.
