Lotte Homeshopping's Virtual Model 'Lucy' Debuts as Show Host... "First Voice Reveal"

Lotte Homeshopping's self-developed virtual model Lucy will debut as a show host on the 22nd.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Lotte Homeshopping announced on the 21st that its self-developed virtual model Lucy will debut as a show host on the 22nd. Lucy is an influencer introduced by Lotte Homeshopping last February as part of its metaverse business, with 70,000 followers on social networking services (SNS).

This time, Lucy's voice will be revealed for the first time through TV home shopping broadcasts. During the 'Christmas Special Event' running until the 26th, Lucy will appear in the broadcast preview video to guide the next product for sale. Dressed in a Santa outfit and holding a gift box, Lucy will introduce the products to be sold, creating a Christmas atmosphere.

Considering various aspects such as Lucy's appearance and occupation, the optimal voice was selected, and advanced technology was applied to make the lip movements correspond to the pronunciation, adding realism. To achieve this, Lotte Homeshopping collaborated with 'ForByFor,' an immersive video content production startup it directly invested in last September, introducing cutting-edge technology using visual effects (VFX) such as refined modeling work, motion capture, and video compositing.

Next year, the virtual model will be advanced to the extent that real-time rendering technology enables two-way communication with people. Moving beyond the limitations of existing photo- and video-based virtual models, activities will expand to fields requiring real-time interaction, such as live activities within metaverse platforms.

A Lotte Homeshopping official said, “Since last September, we have recognized the high potential of the virtual reality content market and developed the virtual model Lucy as the first in the industry, enhancing the technology and expanding the scope of activities. Our goal is to present Lucy to customers in a more realistic form not only on existing platforms such as TV and mobile but also in the metaverse shopping environment we are planning.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.