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Virtual beings have been around for some time now — longer than most of us realize (more on that later) — but one example we're all probably familiar with is the virtual anthropomorphic gecko from the Geico insurance commercials.
Over time, there’s been several similar iterations of such virtual beings. Anyone around in the '80s will probably remember Max Headroom, an abrasive (and at times, abusive) virtual TV personality.
It's one thing to experience these characters through a screen, but how comfortable would you be interacting with them in real life? What about in the workplace?
As it turns out, some organizations have already begun experimenting with the idea.
What Is a Virtual Being?
Though it sounds like a novelty, the idea of virtual beings has been around for more than half a century, at least since the first computer-generated representation of the human figure, Boeing Man, was created in 1964. Later, in 1994, came the first AI-driven chatbot, followed by the earliest virtual internet entertainers that appeared around 2010.
People and organizations have been experimenting with this technology for longer than we realize, but the barrier between the virtual and physical worlds, if one actually existed, is coalescing at a faster rate today, as we spend more and more time interacting with digital forms of communication, collaboration and entertainment.
As a result, we are also spending an increasing amount of our time in the presence of different types of virtual beings.
3 Types of Virtual Beings
According to Texas Immersive Institute’s Virtual Beings Research Group at the University of Texas, there are three types of anthropomorphic creations in use today that can be defined as virtual beings:
- Virtual Influencers, defined as “created in computer graphics software, then given a personality defined by a first-person view of the world, and made accessible on media platforms for the sake of influence.”
- Digital Doubles, which use captured videos of a real person to create a virtual representation of that person through computer graphics (CG). Using hundreds of 3D cameras, digital doubles analyze the 3D shape of a person’s face Then, through structural analysis, facial muscle movements are analyzed so that they can move and make expressions like a real person.
- Distributed Personas are “digital characters designed, developed and managed by an open and permission-less community.” They are often anthropomorphic and autonomous AI offering multiple user-generated versions of the being.
Related Article: AR and VR for Business: Where Immersive Technology Is Driving Real Value
Where to Find Virtual Beings
Perhaps the most obvious place to find virtual beings is in the realm of virtual worlds. From avatars in the metaverse to gaming and multi-player shared adventure spaces, virtual beings have been around as long as we have been engaged with digital environments.
A fast-growing sector where we are encountering virtual beings is the combination of digital environmental and narrative through immersive storytelling applications. In such environments participants can not only view the unfolding narrative but also interact with AI-driven versions of the characters.
On some streaming platforms, such as YouTube and Twitch, virtual beings host shows, facilitate interactive role-playing games, or even sing and discuss the latest trends in pop-culture. Many of these Vtubers (Virtual YouTubers) have subscriber bases in the millions and have spun off into their own branded media concerns.
Some media groups have started to use virtual beings to host and be the face of their brand across the growing ecosystem of social media platforms to provide consistent tone, style and brand messaging.
Perhaps the area where we have seen the fastest growth in the adoption of virtual beings is in the arena of advertising, with the aforementioned Geico Gecko being a prime example. But he isn't alone. Other companies use the same approach across a variety of sectors, in particular the hospitality and food and beverage industries, which seem to be at the forefront of adoption.
Virtual Beings in the Workplace
From the definitions and descriptions of the most popular use cases, it may seem that virtual beings only have a role in a marketing function. While that may primarily be the case at the moment, they are starting to take on roles in the workplace, according to some of the conversations I’ve had with experts in the field.
Virtual beings are now being deployed in various training scenarios for roles where human interaction is a vital part of the job. In such instances, the virtual beings take on the role of customers, patients or even fellow employees so that the trainee can practice and experience multiple different scenarios.
In a similar way, virtual beings are also being deployed to help with both training and the development and testing of new policies in HR functions.
For organizations that encourage mental health management, virtual beings can be effective as listeners for those who would not feel comfortable unburdening themselves to a “human” therapist.
Related Article: How Virtual Reality Is Helping Remote Workers
What’s Next?
We are arguably at an inflection point with virtual beings.
According to the paper “Marketing robot services in hospitality and tourism: the role of anthropomorphism,” published in 2019 in the Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, as virtual beings become more human-like, acceptance is likely to increase, perhaps even to a point when the closeness is perceived as creepy and disturbing — at which point, the authors wrote, acceptance may drop for a while but not for long.
One interesting observation I have heard from practitioners is that there is a definite generational difference in acceptance levels.
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For digital natives who have grown up playing computer games, the timeline to acceptance is much shorter than for those without a video-gaming background. Empirical evidence also seems to indicate that digital natives are more likely to accept less anthropomorphically accurate stylized virtual beings and are comfortable interacting with more cartoonish or abstract stylized representations.
No matter our level of acceptance, virtual beings will continue to play a role in our lives, both as consumers and as employees. Along with the increasing capabilities of AI, we will see more adoption of virtual beings across the workforce, especially within spaces where the digital and physical worlds interact — from marketing and customer service, to HR, training, communications and more.
Yes, there are still a lot of questions to answer around the development and adoption of the technology, along with discussions about potential cultural appropriation, inherent bias, privacy, consent and a whole raft of other moral and ethical considerations, but the Gecko and his chums are waiting at the door, and we need to be ready to work alongside them.
