A smart phone, a camera, a microphone and an account can have their own virtual characters through simple operation. They work 24 hours in the live broadcasting room to bring goods and sell for the enterprise. The daily comprehensive cost can be as low as 100 yuan.
The reporter of Securities Daily learned that enterprises represented by Iflytek Co.Ltd(002230) , Hualian digital, Xiaoduo intelligence, love avatar, huomi interaction and tiaoyue intelligence have provided a large number of low configuration versions of virtual character solutions, which can provide thoughtful services for start-ups of water test live e-commerce. A supplier said, “our goal is to let the world have no difficult live e-commerce. We should build what entrepreneurs want.”
virtual characters help enterprises solve the shortage of Spring Festival anchor
Approaching the Spring Festival, a fruit chain enterprise in Hunan, which has been worried about the backup candidate of live anchor, has found a new solution. This is a virtual character created by Hualian digital. It looks like a cartoon tiger in red Tang costume. It broadcasts the details of the origin, inventory quantity and price discount of various products in the way of children’s voice. It can work 24 hours in the live broadcasting room to realize goods sales and special explanation for enterprises. The e-commerce staff of the enterprise introduced to the reporter: “The Spring Festival is approaching, which is our peak sales season. However, the labor cost of the Spring Festival is rising, and the live anchor has to rest. There is a lack of manpower to work on it, which has a certain impact on our online sales. We are still in the entrepreneurial stage, and we want to try any new technology. Hualian digital provides a complete set of virtual character scheme. At present, the comprehensive cost is not high, so we are determined I\’ll give it a try. “
According to Liu Wei, founder of Hualian digital, the pre production cost of the low configuration version of virtual characters is about 500000 yuan to 1 million yuan. Start ups can rent them according to their own needs, and the minimum daily rental cost can be reduced to 100 yuan. Liu Wei said that the development cost of the low configuration version of virtual characters is low, the development cycle is short, many functions can be added, and the actual effect can be seen after investment. The concept behind it is “let the world have no difficult live broadcasting”, which is another choice for start-ups to solve the shortage of anchors in the Spring Festival.
The reporter learned that at present, many start-ups have used the virtual characters provided by Hualian digital to carry out goods sales, resulting in a stable sales flow. The industry is distributed in the fields of daily chemical products, living home, mother and baby products, and the live sales flow of start-ups using the interaction between virtual characters and real anchors is about three times higher than before.
The company introduced the current market pattern of virtual character solutions to the reporter of Securities Daily. At present, the development of virtual characters has entered the market stratification stage. The low configuration version of virtual characters uses steam, xirang and other general development software, which can quickly generate solutions for start-ups; The Chinese version of virtual characters needs to use key technologies such as dynamic capture technology, post rendering and voice synthesis, which are generally used in enterprise short films and product advertisements of small and medium-sized enterprises; The high configuration version of virtual characters needs the full cooperation of graphic workstations, specially developed software, professional creative teams, mass actors and dubbing personnel, focusing on commercial activities such as online concerts, major new product launches and high-end luxury endorsement of large enterprises.
The above technical personnel of the supplier further explain, “The emerging industry of virtual characters is a bit similar to the automotive industry. There are not only low configuration products that take the cost-effective route, but also medium configuration products that take the new and strange experience, and even high configuration products that take the luxury route. The virtual characters with medium and high configuration are generally realistic style, pay attention to the details in place, vivid expression, long production cycle and high production cost. Now a large number of enterprises on the market can mention them Although the virtual character solution for the low configuration version gives up some experience and performance, it has outstanding cost performance. ” He said with a smile, “there is a large market space for low-cost products. Wuling shenche is the \’entrepreneurial light\’ of the automotive industry. We also want to create several \’entrepreneurial lights\’ in the virtual character industry as soon as possible.”
capital entry promotes the development of virtual characters
The demand of entrepreneurs has also been highly valued by the head enterprise Iflytek Co.Ltd(002230) . It has actively entered the game to improve the technical level of the whole industry of virtual characters, resulting in a positive effect of shortening the production cycle and reducing the difficulty of development. At the 2020 global 1024 developer Festival, Liu Qingfeng, chairman of Iflytek Co.Ltd(002230) , revealed that Iflytek Co.Ltd(002230) can generate a virtual character in 5 minutes. At the global 1024 developer festival in 2021, Iflytek Co.Ltd(002230) released the industry’s first virtual human interaction platform. Liu Qingfeng said that a virtual character can be customized in one minute. Customizing a virtual character from 5 minutes to 1 minute means that enterprises, entrepreneurs and individual users can customize the virtual image with low threshold through the virtual human interaction system, which greatly reduces the comprehensive production cost of virtual characters.
In addition to Iflytek Co.Ltd(002230) , Hualian digital, Xiaoduo intelligence, love avatar, huomi interaction, tiaoyue intelligence and other enterprises have low version virtual character technology solutions, which can be used for live delivery, scenic spot guide, exhibition hall explanation, food program, weather forecast and financial broadcasting. This kind of low configuration version of virtual characters is different from Liu Yexi’s high configuration version of virtual idols. It adopts general development platforms such as steam, xirang and poser to adjust the details according to the specific requirements of the enterprise on the unified character template, mostly two-dimensional or three-dimensional cartoon characters.
For many years, he has been engaged in artificial intelligence, software testing Professor Zhang Dafang, doctoral supervisor of Hunan University who studies Beijing Vastdata Technology Co.Ltd(603138) mining and algorithm, said: “The entry of virtual characters into the live broadcast e-commerce indicates that the live broadcast industry has entered the era of artificial intelligence, and human-computer interaction will generate more business opportunities. The participation of virtual characters in the live broadcast of e-commerce can help small and medium-sized enterprises reduce labor shortage, save costs, improve efficiency, expand economic benefits, and help small and medium-sized enterprises achieve \’curve acceleration\’ in their business performance. Virtual characters participating in the live broadcast of e-commerce Most of them have beautiful appearance, lovely voice line, cute movements and accurate speech skills, which can drive jobs in many fields such as art design, software development, action performance, marketing copywriting and language translation, and indirectly promote the overall employment of the society. Similar to other electronic devices, with the continuous iteration of hardware and software technology, the original high configuration version of virtual idol will gradually reduce the comprehensive development cost, and finally realize the pattern of “flying into the homes of ordinary people.”
Long tengjiang, chief analyst of Tenglong investment, agrees with Professor Zhang Dafang, but has reservations about the statement of “entrepreneurial light”. He said that the technical threshold of the low configuration version of virtual characters is not high, the homogenization of products is more prominent, and there are obvious “design crashes” in some products, which may cause consumers\’ aesthetic fatigue. Enterprises engaged in virtual character design and development should find their own market positioning and make their own style in order to grow smoothly. He suggested that enterprises engaged in the design and development of virtual characters should actively cooperate with cultural creation enterprises, interpret and interpret virtual characters in a rich context, and work together with e-commerce enterprises in need to let virtual characters tell real stories, create a cheap, high-quality and domestic “virtual character sky group”.
(source: Securities Daily)
