Rozy has more than 130,000 followers on Instagram, where she posts photos of her exciting adventures. Her makeup is always perfect, her clothes look straight off the runway. She sings, dances and models -- and none of it is real.
image source from Instagram @rozy.gram
Rozy is a South Korean "virtual influencer," a digitally rendered human so realistic she is often mistaken for a real human.
"Are you a real person?" one of her Instagram fans asks. "Are you an AI? Or a robot?"
According to the Seoul-based company that created her, Rozy is a blend of all three who straddles the real and virtual worlds. She is "able to do everything that humans cannot ... in the most human-like form," Sidus Studio X says on its website.
image source from Instagram @rozy.gram
image source from Instagram @rozy.gram
Since her launch in 2020, Rozy has landed brand deals and sponsorships, strutted the runway in virtual fashion shows and even released two singles.
And she's not the only one! South Korea isn't the only place to have embraced virtual influencers.
Among the world's most famous virtual influencers, there is Lil Miquela, created by the co-founders of an American tech startup, who has endorsed brands including Calvin Klein and Prada and has more than 3 million Instagram followers.
image source from Instagram @lilmiquela
image source from Instagram @lilmiquela
Lu do Magalu, created by a Brazilian retail company, with nearly 6 million Instagram followers; and FNMeka, a rapper created by music company Factory New, with more than 10 million TikTok followers.
image source from Instagram @fnmeka
image source from Instagram @magazineluiza
How do virtual influencers work?
The CGI (computer-generated imagery) technology behind Rozy isn't new. It is common in today's entertainment industry, where artists use it to craft realistic nonhuman characters in movies, computer games and music videos.
But it has only recently been used to make influencers.
Social media doesn't just enable virtual influencers to build a fanbase -- it's where the money rolls in.
Rozy's Instagram, for instance, is dotted with sponsored content where she advertises skincare and fashion products.
"Many big companies in Korea want to use Rozy as a model," said Baik Seung-yup, the CEO of Sidus Studio X. "This year, we expect to easily reach over two billion Korean won (about $1.52 million) in profit, just with Rozy."
He added that as Rozy grew more popular, the company landed more sponsorships from luxury brands such as Chanel and Hermes, as well as magazines and other media companies. Her ads have now appeared on television, and even in offline spaces like billboards and the sides of buses.
image source from Instagram @rozy.gram
In our world today, technology is constantly evolving, and the virtual world is getting more and more borderless with the "real" world, is it surprising for you to know that Rozy is not a real human? Leave your thought in the comment below!!
