Rae
Rae (蕊)
Rae is a Singapore-based virtual influencer created in 2020 by computer graphics imagery (CGI) technology, and powered by artificial intelligence (AI). She is popular through her Instagram and Weibo platforms, where she has over 18.9k and 943k followers respectively.[1][2]
Background
Creation
Rae is Singapore’s very own hyper-realistic virtual personality, one of the few in Asia, having been created on 17 October 2020.[3] She was created via CGI technology, and powered by AI solutions. Her real creators are unknown.
Appearance
Rae takes on the appearance of an Asian female, and a never-changing age of 25 years old.[4] According to her profile, she is a “digital artist” who likes to share her passion for street culture, armed with her trusty skateboard.[5]
Sometime in March 2021, Rae announced that she visited Hong Kong fora hairstyle makeover by Asia’s top hair styling maestro and celebrity hairstylist Kim Robinson.[6] This resulted in a significant change in her hairstyle, to a shorter rose-coloured crop with streaks of fuschia.
According to Rae, Robinson recommended the glowing colours of powder rose and purple with brilliant streaks of fuchsia, as it was designed to mirror her personality and sense of mystery and wonder.[7]
Professional Involvements
Launch of NFT series
In July 2021, Rae announced that she would be releasing a three-part series of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for sale on NFT marketplace platform Mintable.[8] The series, titled ‘Take a Byte’, features three separate artworks titled 'You lookin' at me', 'Take me (apart)' and 'Welcome to my metaverse'.[8]
The NFTs went live on 22 July 2022, with a starting bid of US$350 (0.155 ETH) each, or US$3,500 (about 1.55 ETH) for an outright purchase.[9] The owner of the NFT would also receive a personalised AI-generated thank-you message from her.[10]
Each of Rae’s NFTs required over 50 hours to produce, by a team comprising creatives, 3D designers, photographers and more.[11] Commenting on her NFTs, Rae said that her “debut NFT artwork series allows my fans to own a slice of my virtual world. The launch marks a ‘never been done’ milestone as I continue to straddle between the virtual and physical worlds to bring new experiences to my fans.”[11]
Collaboration with Benjamin Kheng
In August 2021, Singaporean singer and songwriter Benjamin Kheng launched an unprecedented collaboration with Rae, comprising a music video titled ‘WORLDS’ which features the both of them in a duet.[12] The video includes a scene of the both of them sitting back to back, and was made possible due to Rae’s TTS voice generation technology which enables aural content to be produced almost immediately.
Collaborations with other brands
One of Rae’s most successful collaborations involved her with sneaker designer Mark Ong. The duo launched the SBTGxRae capsule collection, which was featured in many newspapers and magazines and sold out in three days.[13] The collaboration was also lauded for how “a collaboration with a virtual influencer can deliver unique brand experience and business success in the real world.”[13]
Rae has also worked with many brands, appearing in advertisements to promote their product launches. According to her portfolio listed on her website, she has worked with the likes of:
| Brand | Details |
| CapitaLand | Promoting the Molly 15: Into The Future exhibition and Molly decór sets at Funan Mall. |
| OSIM | Promoting the OSIM uDream Pro VR-integrated massage chair. |
| Audi | Promoting the new Audi A3. |
| The Front Row 2021 | Brand ambassador for the award-winning virtual fashion festival. |
| JSTYLE精美 | Cover girl for Chinese online fashion portal and publication JSTYLE精美, alongside leading female rapper VaVa. The issue marks the first time the magazine featured a virtual personality and celebrity on their cover, melding fashion and music with the virtual world. |
| Monsoon Patrol | Featured in a campaign video. This is the first time the street label collaborated with a virtual personality, combining fashion and technology |
| Sam Lo ‘skl0’ | Collaborated to launch a limited edition e-sticker pack titled “Almost Human”. |
References/Citations
- ↑ Rae. “here.is.rae Instagram”. Instagram. n.d. Accessed 22 April 2022.
- ↑ Rae. “hereisrae Weibo”. Weibo. n.d. Accessed 22 April 2022.
- ↑ Virtual Humans. “Rae Biography”. Virtual Humans. n.d. Accessed 22 April 2022.
- ↑ Chai, Amanda. “Virtual Influencer Rae Is A Skateboarding And Urban Culture Fiend”. Female Mag. February 24, 2021. Accessed 22 April 2022.
- ↑ Rae. “Rae bio”. Here Is Rae. n.d. Accessed 22 April 2022.
- ↑ Khalid, Cam. “Meet Rae: Singapore’s virtual influencer on the power of social media”. TimeOut. April 16, 2021. Accessed 22 April 2022.
- ↑ Sim, Alli. “Virtual influencer, Rae, talks about entering the realm of NFTs”. Vogue. July 20, 2021. Accessed 22 April 2022.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Miller, Matthew. “Influencer sells virtual portraits of virtual self as NFTs”. Campaign Asia. July 13, 2021. Accessed 22 April 2022.
- ↑ Dwyer, Ciaran. “Marketing Machine or Hyperreal Art: Singaporean Virtual Influencer Rae Mints a Series of NFTs”. Mixmag Asia. July 26, 2021. Accessed 22 April 2022.
- ↑ Sim, Alli. “Virtual influencer, Rae, talks about entering the realm of NFTs”. Vogue. July 20, 2021. Accessed 22 April 2022.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Rae. “Southeast Asia's Virtual Influencer Rae Is Set to Debut Her First NFT Series on Mintable”. Hypebeast. July 16, 2021. Accessed 22 April 2022.
- ↑ Gan, Shanne. “Benjamin Kheng teams up with AI influencer Rae for Asia’s first human and virtual character collaboration”. Hear65 Bandwagon Asia. August 23, 2021. Accessed 22 April 2022.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Shafie, Farhan. “A surreal heart-to-digital-heart with Singapore virtual influencer Rae”. AsiaOne. January 28, 2021. Accessed 22 April 2022.