A Non-Gender Virtual Influencer Takes Center Stage on the Bangkok Fashion Scene
Meet Bangkok Naughty Boo, a forever 17 years-old, computer-generated, non-binary virtual influencer. They are the creation of Adisak (Beam) Jirasakkasem and his friends and made their debut online in October 2020.
The 30 years old fashion designer describes Bangkok Naughty Boo as a character full of energy, with a naughty spirit. “They love making friends, they love fashion, going around in the city”. The addition of “Boo” refers to “boo” a term used in social media to refer to boyfriends and girlfriends. “That fitted the non-binary character of Bangkok Naughty Boo”.
“IWANNABANGKOK” Instagram – a source of inspiration
The virtual influencer are meant to be the incarnation of youth in Thailand. Beam explains that the team collected hundreds of data from Bangkok teenagers following the Instagram account of a campaign launched by Beam in 2016 “IWANNABANGKOK©” through which he wanted “to promote Bangkok, do everything to rebrand the word Bangkok in a way that is new and fresh and young and creative.”
On Instagram, Beam said, “we are trying to make them very active on meeting new people, making friends around Bangkok, show the audience how Thai teenagers go around, how they hang around.”
Bangkok Naughty Boo is a combination of all that data, their facial, their character, and their sense of style. They represent the new youth of Thailand, they do not have any nationality, Beam said, adding “we want them to be a world citizen.” “In the future, it won’t really matter where you are from, what gender you affiliate with, or your race.” “We want Bangkok Naughty Boo to be the future of humans.”
Bangkok Naughty Boo’s Muses
The computer-generated influencer (CGI) with neon hair was inspired by Thai female rapper MILLI who made her debut when she was 17, with what Beam describes as a strong character and very catchy songs. “We liked her attitude, and we wanted that 17 year old attitude in Bangkok Naughty Boo”. The team was also inspired by hugely popular United States CGI Instagram influencer Lil Miquela. “We wanted to make a virtual influencer for this region and Thailand.”
The CGI Artists behind Bangkok Naughty Boo
Beam always wanted to be a very famous fashion designer and was always moving in the artistic field. Before starting university, he was struggling to choose between fashion and character design and opted for fashion design, which is still his stronger interest. Bangkok Naughty Boo provided an ideal mix of fashion and character design.
Voranat Voraphitak (Urk), a 3D rendering artist, designed Bangkok Naughty Boo. Growing up, he had no precise idea of what he wanted to do as an adult. As a teenager, he watched a movie produced by Christopher Cunningham, a British video artist, which he said, changed his life: he knew what he wanted to do. He learned 3D animation and created his own world, with a growing interest in the Metaverse.
If artificial intelligence (AI) is sometimes mentioned about virtual influencers, however, Urk said that no AI is used in Bangkok Naughty Boo. The character cannot think by themselves. When AI becomes more accessible, he said, in the next three to four years, Bangkok Naughty Boo might have a mind of their own.
Time is of the Essence, Fashion First
The team started working on Bangkok Naughty Boo at the beginning of 2020. It took them a little over six months to finalize their creation. “We needed to be quick”, Beam said, “we were the first virtual influencer in Thailand, now there are five more.” Bangkok Naughty Boo is still the only non-binary character. With 4,000 followers, the virtual influencer is growing its followers organically.
“Myself and Urk, we work with passion, we never got any funding, since the beginning.” Now Bangkok Naughty Boo allows them to derive a salary from their influencer. They mainly advertise fashion and influence Bangkok teens fashion, advertise brands, participate in clothing campaigns, and are present on online fashion marketplaces.
Bangkok Naughty Boo promotes street clothes, and non-gender fashion, although said Beam, originally “gendered” clothes can be worn by anybody.
Metaverse: the New World
Metaverse is this virtual world that Beams defines as “very exciting, but not accessible yet.” In fact, he said, there are a lot of metaverses online right now but the trend is only emerging. The launch of “Meta” by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook owner, drew a lot of attention to the metaverse and “everybody is talking about it”. In a couple of years, he predicts, it will be a new world, a whole virtual universe where avatars can jump from one metaverse to the next.
Avatars can sell, buy, exchange things, or just hang around, he said, but in the near future, virtual reality glasses and bodysuits will give a more “real” feel to the metaverse.
The Covid-19 crisis helped in the rise of virtual worlds and virtual influencers even if the trend took place well before 2020, according to Urk.
What’s Next in the cards for Bangkok Naughty Boo
Bangkok Naughty Boo is still a work in progress. Beam and Urk said they are slowly discovering the character of the virtual influencer and imagine that even their face will evolve. They also foresee a singing career for Bangkok Naughty Boo in the future.
In the coming months, Beam said a particular effort will be made to advertise Bangkok Naughty Boo to grow their followers and expand their influence.
Bangkok Naughty Boo is working with the intellectual property office to protect the intellectual property of the virtual influencer. “We thought it would be fine if we did not, but we realize that that’s something that we have to do to protect our creation.”
