Vtuber Projekt Melody “rents” a human to go on real life date

Popular Vtuber Projekt Melody took her character out in real life thanks to the help of an iPad and a “volunteer” body. The setup meant she could travel in character around Tokyo, while on a date.

Projekt Melody is one of the most popular Vtubers, who regularly streams on Twitch – despite bans from the platform in the past. In November 2020, Twitch overturned a bizarre DMCA takedown on her channel, filed by the creator of her 3D model.

Now approaching half a million followers on Twitch, in addition to 500,000 subscribers on YouTube, Projekt Melody is taking the Vtuber experience beyond just the virtual world.

Using an iPad, the Vtuber was able to ‘walk’ the streets of Tokyo, along with her date, Shibuya Kaho, and volunteer body, Highgai (a fellow streamer).

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As they walk through the streets, with an iPad attached to Highgai’s head, passersby looked on in what was probably a mix of confusion and intrigue.

The trio even visited a nightclub and chatted to other patrons about the virtual date, who all seemed quite on board with the idea.

“It was a fun, boozy, sensory overload of a time and I loved every minute of it,” Projekt Melody said. “I hope it was less embarrassing for them as it was for me.”

CEO of VShojo, a Vtuber influencer company, Justin ‘TheGunrun’ Ignacio, helped with the setup and broadcast of the IRL date. “We were using an iPad with LTE to keep the connection strong for an HD feed for Melody back here in NA.

“Melody had an amazing time being in the iPad. Being able to talk to others in real-time and influence the environment on the other side of the world through another body is surreal. To her it really felt like she was there, having virtually no delay, she could interact with others instantly, and touch things (through a surrogate body).”

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Ignacio confirmed that there are plans for more of these IRL trips and experiences, both in Tokyo and around the world.

Vtubers are already one of the fastest-growing areas of streaming content, with others such as CodeMiko blowing up on Twitch.

If you have no idea what it’s all about, then check out our introduction to Vtubing here.