LISTEN: "Is she a robot?" Meet Kim Zulu, South Africa's first virtual influencer

You may look at the above picture and be mesmerised not only by the beauty of South Africa's first virtual influencer but the fact that our country has already tapped into such a great market. 

The very first virtual influencer introduced in the world was Shudu, who was designed and created by London based photographer, Cameron-James Wilson. She was then followed by multiple other models in that Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) virtual influencer industry like Noonoouri and Miquela Sousa.

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Lebo Kambule is the creator and founder of The Avatar Company which is a South African digital company that does influencer work but with virtual personalities. 

The first virtual influencer to 3 virtual influencers from the company is the proudly South African bald and brown-skinned virtual lady, Kim Zulu. 

She is a quirky and down-to-earth personality who when contacted  shared, "I'm quite shy, but you could speak to my creator" 

Indeed we were able to reach Kambule to share his journey which started in 2020. 

Take a listen to how he came about with the idea , the look and the name of South Africa's first virtual influencer, Kim Zulu: 

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Yes, we could easily want to call her a 'robot' because she has all the qualities and characteristic of a robot - human qualities except the physical qualities. What people enjoy about Kim Zulu is how she is proudly South African and embraces and loves being African.

Like he mentioned above, The Avatar Company has done work with Russian fashion week, Engen and Veet. 

So let's say gig like your favourite influencers, Jessica van Heerden or Mihlali Ndamase would do, Kim Zulu also has the opportunity to be hired for certain campaigns.

You would wonder how it works? Does the virtual personality arrive to the required or? 

Take a listen as Kambule shares how the work with virtual influencers works:

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Other personalities include BassTheDj and Iyanda. 

Iyanda happens to be TV personality, Ayanda Thabethe's virtual twin.  Iyanda was created to virtually embody Ayanda’s values on social media platforms: the first virtual human to do so for a celebrity according to herself. 

Iyanda is also a South African model with interests in beauty, entertainment and fashion. 

Take a look at how similar they look: 

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So, if you are looking to follow Kim Zulu on social media then find her on Instagram. 

She proudly celebrates being South African and African and we are proud to have this development in our country! 

Main Image Courtesy: Supplied