News Snapshot:
From ordering digital mosquitos to online fatherhood, RADII takes a closer look at some of the more unusual virtual services on the market. Virtual Lovers Virtual people are hardly an unfamiliar concept in China, given the growth of virtual influencers in fashion and ecommerce in recent years. Virtual lovers, however, are a less visible phenomenon, emerging as early as 2014 on online shopping platform Taobao, on Reddit-like website Baidu Tieba, and even as a “virtual girlfriend†developed by Microsoft, XiaoBing (which was hit with a WeChat ban in 2019 ). Through these services, customers can buy romantic companionship, usually through...
