imma
Virtual Model (Japan)
imma is Japan’s first prominent virtual model — a pink-bobbed CGI persona from Tokyo studio Aww Inc. In 2024 Aww partnered with NVIDIA to build an interactive “AI imma,” pushing the persona toward real-time generative AI.
In her words
We believe that Virtual Human can change the world. When we say it, we actually mean it.
Biography
imma (styled in lowercase) is a virtual model launched in 2018 by the Tokyo CG company Aww Inc. Recognisable by her pink bob, she has appeared in campaigns for Puma, Coach, Ikea and Porsche and was among the first virtual humans to break into mainstream Japanese advertising.
From CGI persona to interactive AI
In June 2024 Aww announced a partnership with Jensen Huang’s NVIDIA to develop “AI imma,” an AI-driven version of the influencer that users can interact with in real time using NVIDIA’s ACE and multimodal large-language-model technology — a shift from painstaking hand-crafted CGI toward autonomous, generative behaviour.
Digital humans will revolutionize industries.
imma’s team markets her as proof that virtual humans can carry real brand and emotional value, and the NVIDIA tie-up positions her at the front of the move from static avatars to conversational AI. Skeptics note she inherits the same unresolved questions — disclosure, authenticity, and whose likeness and labour a “virtual human” ultimately stands in for.
Where they stand in the war
Who backs them up
Sources & further reading
Canonical record: https://battlelines.ai/topic/imma