The virtual influencer bringing female empowerment to the metaverse.
Miss Germany Studios / Woodblock ©
Created as a virtual twin with her community, Lij wants to diversify the metaverse and explore it with her fans. Here's what you need to know.
“Come with me on a journey into a world where your creativity is limitless, where you can be who you really are” — with those words, Lij was born, coming to life and rising like a superhero in the teaser trailer produced by the animation studio Woodblock.
Lij is the first virtual influencer created by Miss Germany Studios together with Woodblock to bring more female representation into the metaverse space. Not only is she a virtual influencer but she’s also the virtual twin of Twitch host Jil Andert, who in a motion capture suit interacts with the community live on Twitch every Thursday.
The project is supported by Xbox and Microsoft, aiming to diversify the space while educating and guiding the mainstream Twitch community through the metaverse as Jil Andert transforms into Lij. Each week, different experts are brought in to discuss topics related to both the metaverse and our society in general.
“We thought it was interesting to create a character for me because I don’t know much about the metaverse but I can help the community understand it as they learn through me,” Jil says. “I want to entertain the community and also interact with them. I want to be the bridge for people.”
Miss Germany Studios / Woodblock ©
Becoming Lij
So, what goes into a virtual character like Lij? The personalities and looks of virtual influencers are often inspired by already-existing characters or real people. In this case, Jil was asked to create a character map with friends and family to decide on the characteristics of Lij.
“We definitely wanted Lij to be an exaggerated version of Jil. We got to know her pretty well because we needed to understand her first before we came up with something for Lij. It couldn’t just be something entirely different,” Helen Hyung Choi, creative director and head of culture at Woodblock, says.
Except for Lij’s cool space buns, they are almost the spitting image of each other, with Lij having a cartoonish look rather than hyper-realistic. Her character is described as very loveable, warm, empathic, and open-minded by Jil, who feels her performance changes as she steps into the motion capture suit.
“Lij is definitely funnier than me. I’ve experienced that I can be more outgoing because it’s not my face we’re seeing, it’s Lij. I think the character will be formed with each stream, but what I could imagine is that our personalities will be similar but not exactly the same,” Jil says, noting that her virtual twin will have both good and bad sides to make the character more human and relatable for the community.
Virtual influencers must display different emotions and create storylines that make fans invest in them emotionally. We’ve seen Lil Miquela have a breakdown in the toilet, Imma feeling jealous and excluded from her brother’s romantic relationship, and Ria falling in love. So, it only makes sense that Lij should also display intricate emotions in the future, resembling those of Jil.
Creating Lij as a virtual twin also has huge benefits when it comes to transparency. In the live streams, she explains what goes into the production, how the motion capture suit works, and even technical errors are embraced. This strategy helps build trust with the community, who sees there’s a person behind Lij and that the process still requires a human team.
“As technology progresses, we won’t always know if there’s a person at the other end. I think it’s really forward-thinking to have Lij as a virtual twin. They’re already showing there’s a person behind the character and thereby keeping a human element which makes you feel comfortable,” Tabitha Swanson, creative technologist and part of the web3allstars community, says.
Miss Germany Studios / Woodblock ©
Community first
For Miss Germany Studio and Woodblock, the community is at the forefront. From the very start, the team included the Twitch community in the creation of Lij. By using the tool Fanblast, fans got the opportunity to vote on different outfits and influence her overall style and appearance.
“Our artist, Alex, was on the stream many times, where he created these different outfit designs. We then posted them to the community, asking which one they preferred. Space buns were so celebrated that we knew we had to put them on Lij as well, and I think we will continue to interact that way,” Helen says.
Virtual influencers are community-driven. They continuously need to find new ways to interact with fans to stay relevant. For a while, Lil Miquela asked fans how she should dress or what pictures to post on her feed. Then there’s Teflon Sega and Chill Pill, who have hosted jam sessions with fans. Taking it to the next level by creating a phygital experience, Hatsune Miku moved in with fans as she teamed up with the communication device Gatebox, which contained a hologram of her.
“We’re in a limiting space technologically right now, but I think in 5-10 years Lij is going to do one performance but with each person customizing her individually and seeing exactly what they want,” Tabitha says while suggesting how an AR or VR experience in the future could also be an interesting way for Lij to interact with her fans.
Female representation in the metaverse
The metaverse space can be thought of as a male-dominated territory by some. As a woman working in the industry, you’re sometimes asked if it isn’t a man’s world. However, there are female leaders and creators in this space paving the way for more women to join and set up careers. According to Tabitha, breaking into the space is often dependent on access to technology and certain communities, which are not always welcoming to women.
“I’m part of a few groups that are really nice, and I think for me, without those groups, I wouldn’t be able to go to the places I’ve gone to. Sometimes it can be really intimidating or just not inclusive enough for women to enter certain spaces,” Tabitha says. “All we can do is try to bring education and make it accessible.”
Miss Germany Studios / Woodblock ©
Lij intends to bring more female representation to the metaverse to educate and create a role model for young women, who want to enter the space. It’s a mission that is close to the heart of Miss Germany Studios, which aims to celebrate female pioneers and role models at the Miss Germany Awards.
“With the background of Miss Germany, we are searching for superheroes in real life, superwomen. We want to create communities for them, and so we thought, why don’t we do that in the virtual world too,” Jil says. “The metaverse is part of the future, which is why female characters have to take part. That’s why it’s so important that Lij is the bridge for women.”
Watch the Miss Germany live stream with Lij every Thursday from 16:00 to 19:00 on Twitch and follow her on Instagram.
