Project MUSE - The Actualizing Platform: 2.5 Dimensions in the VTuber Media Ecology

Virtual YouTubers (henceforth VTubers) are 2D or 3D character models that are operated using motion capture and then broadcast via an internet platform.1 The first VTuber appearance was in 2010 for a promotional video by the Nitroplus company's YouTube channel and their boom in popularity began in 2016, with the success of Kizuna AI leading the way for numerous other channels (see Figure 1).2 Beyond AI's success, other factors contributing to this recent growth include the lower cost of motion capture technology and the stabilizing of monetization models on online platforms. Moving into 2021, individual VTuber channels hold little weight against multichannel agencies like Nijisanji, COVER, and VShōjo. Of note here is COVER, whose "Hololive" group of VTubers make up twenty-five of the thirty most-subscribed VTubers on YouTube.3 Across all these channels, livestreamed content rather than the earlier prerecorded videos takes precedence and the streams feature everything from gaming to cha

Virtual YouTubers (henceforth VTubers) are 2D or 3D character models that are operated using motion capture and then broadcast via an internet platform.1 The first VTuber appearance was in 2010 for a promotional video by the Nitroplus company's YouTube channel and their boom in popularity began in 2016, with the success of Kizuna AI leading the way for numerous other channels (see Figure 1).2 Beyond AI's success, other factors contributing to this recent growth include the lower cost of motion capture technology and the stabilizing of monetization models on online platforms. Moving into 2021,