CodeMiko
Youna Kang · 2021
While VTubing has grown in popularity over the last few years, CodeMiko stands out by offering high fidelity motion and facial capture and a higher degree of interactivity due to Twitch chat's ability to affect her streams. CodeMiko has created a new form of entertainment inside of Twitch by mixing gaming, live interactivity, and traditional scripted content. New interactions are created all the time, making it an incredibly exciting experience for the viewers and makes them want to keep watching. To bring CodeMiko to life, all you need is motion capture through an Xsens suit and facial capture through an iPhone live link. Her fingers are captured using Manus VR. Most of her expressivity is done through her animation blueprint and I've added blendshapes with squash and stretch to make her face feel more alive. Heightened interactivity with chat is one of the most unique aspects of the CodeMiko show. When I connect to Twitch chat, tools that I created allow the viewers to play with the character morph screen, while others boast arcade-like features. Chat can make her explode, throw balls and try to hit her, or make her fart. Chat can also visit Miko's world as a little frog, which Miko can then grab and throw around if she wants to. As an example, I have connected to chat and they will play with the character morphs live to change CodeMiko's body1.