[Ray Kyooyung Ra, Blog #2/15] First date with NPC

I came across an Instagram reel that I had to go back and re-watch several times, just to make sure this "NPC" ("non-player character") was a living, human person. 

The account is run by an extremely talented Polish dancer couple whose social media contents demonstrate them mimicking the behaviors and movements of NPC characters in video games. 3-D NPC characters are coded to simulate 'human-like' and 'realistic' demeanor, but they are generally far from exhibiting any uncanny resemblance to the human. The physical ability of these dancers to then, in turn, mimic the mimicry of the human that NPC characters are supposed to enact is the source of comedy here. 

This was an alternative digital object I considered bringing in instead of the "I Met You: VR Human Documentary" clip for my presentation last week. Thought I might share the video for a blog post anyway in case y'all might be interested, since it got me thinking about what 'realistic,' 'natural,' and 'mediated' aesthetics of digital simulation might mean to the present-day average consumer.