More Kawaii than a real-person live streamer: Understanding how the Otaku Community engages with and perceives virtual YouTubers

Live streaming has become increasingly popular, with most streamers presenting their real-life appearance. However, Virtual YouTubers (VTubers), virtual 2D or 3D avatars that are voiced by humans, are emerging as live streamers and attracting a growing viewership in East Asia. Although prior researc...

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Main Authors: LU, Zhicong, SHEN, Chenxinran, LI, Jiannan, SHEN, Hong, WIGDOR, Daniel
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Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2021
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Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/8059
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sis_research/article/9062/viewcontent/3411764.3445660.pdf
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Institution: Singapore Management University
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spelling sg-smu-ink.sis_research-90622023-09-07T08:06:12Z More Kawaii than a real-person live streamer: Understanding how the Otaku Community engages with and perceives virtual YouTubers LU, Zhicong SHEN, Chenxinran LI, Jiannan SHEN, Hong WIGDOR, Daniel Live streaming has become increasingly popular, with most streamers presenting their real-life appearance. However, Virtual YouTubers (VTubers), virtual 2D or 3D avatars that are voiced by humans, are emerging as live streamers and attracting a growing viewership in East Asia. Although prior research has found that many viewers seek real-life interpersonal interactions with real-person streamers, it is currently unknown what makes VTuber live streams engaging or how they are perceived differently than real-person streamers. We conducted an interview study to understand how viewers engage with VTubers and perceive the identities of the voice actors behind the avatars (i.e., Nakanohito). The data revealed that Virtual avatars bring unique performative opportunities which result in different viewer expectations and interpretations of VTuber behavior. Viewers intentionally upheld the disembodiment of VTuber avatars from their voice actors. We uncover the nuances in viewer perceptions and attitudes and further discuss the implications of VTuber practices to the understanding of live streaming in general. 2021-05-01T07:00:00Z text application/pdf https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/8059 info:doi/10.1145/3411764.3445660 https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sis_research/article/9062/viewcontent/3411764.3445660.pdf http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems eng Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University virtual idols live streaming social media user engagement virtual YouTuber Graphics and Human Computer Interfaces Social Media
institution Singapore Management University
building SMU Libraries
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider SMU Libraries
collection InK@SMU
language English
topic virtual idols
live streaming
social media
user engagement
virtual YouTuber
Graphics and Human Computer Interfaces
Social Media
spellingShingle virtual idols
live streaming
social media
user engagement
virtual YouTuber
Graphics and Human Computer Interfaces
Social Media
LU, Zhicong
SHEN, Chenxinran
LI, Jiannan
SHEN, Hong
WIGDOR, Daniel
More Kawaii than a real-person live streamer: Understanding how the Otaku Community engages with and perceives virtual YouTubers
description Live streaming has become increasingly popular, with most streamers presenting their real-life appearance. However, Virtual YouTubers (VTubers), virtual 2D or 3D avatars that are voiced by humans, are emerging as live streamers and attracting a growing viewership in East Asia. Although prior research has found that many viewers seek real-life interpersonal interactions with real-person streamers, it is currently unknown what makes VTuber live streams engaging or how they are perceived differently than real-person streamers. We conducted an interview study to understand how viewers engage with VTubers and perceive the identities of the voice actors behind the avatars (i.e., Nakanohito). The data revealed that Virtual avatars bring unique performative opportunities which result in different viewer expectations and interpretations of VTuber behavior. Viewers intentionally upheld the disembodiment of VTuber avatars from their voice actors. We uncover the nuances in viewer perceptions and attitudes and further discuss the implications of VTuber practices to the understanding of live streaming in general.
format text
author LU, Zhicong
SHEN, Chenxinran
LI, Jiannan
SHEN, Hong
WIGDOR, Daniel
author_facet LU, Zhicong
SHEN, Chenxinran
LI, Jiannan
SHEN, Hong
WIGDOR, Daniel
author_sort LU, Zhicong
title More Kawaii than a real-person live streamer: Understanding how the Otaku Community engages with and perceives virtual YouTubers
title_short More Kawaii than a real-person live streamer: Understanding how the Otaku Community engages with and perceives virtual YouTubers
title_full More Kawaii than a real-person live streamer: Understanding how the Otaku Community engages with and perceives virtual YouTubers
title_fullStr More Kawaii than a real-person live streamer: Understanding how the Otaku Community engages with and perceives virtual YouTubers
title_full_unstemmed More Kawaii than a real-person live streamer: Understanding how the Otaku Community engages with and perceives virtual YouTubers
title_sort more kawaii than a real-person live streamer: understanding how the otaku community engages with and perceives virtual youtubers
publisher Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University
publishDate 2021
url https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/8059
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sis_research/article/9062/viewcontent/3411764.3445660.pdf
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