Virtual Personas
Virtual Personas:
The Emergence of a New Human Medium
The current wave of AI-personalisation signals a profound transformation in how human presence is designed, represented, and perceived. What began as simple data-driven recommendation systems has evolved into complex networks of expressive entities — Virtual Personas, Digital Humans, and Human-like Avatars — each reflecting a different degree of embodiment, intelligence, and cultural intention.
Virtual Personas are designed identities that simulate human presence and behaviour across digital environments. They merge aesthetics, language, and cognition into a coherent style or narrative voice — an artist, tutor, brand, or companion that exists as both interface and being. Digital Humans extend this logic toward realism: photorealistic, emotionally responsive characters animated through AI-driven movement, speech, and perception. Human-like Avatars, by contrast, are graphical embodiments of identity in virtual or mixed realities — not necessarily realistic, but expressive of role, style, and intent.
All these forms belong to the broader field of AI-personalisation, which can be divided into several levels of complexity:
Data-driven personalisation, where algorithms adapt content to user behaviour;
Conversational personalisation, where agents remember users, maintain tone, and simulate empathy;
Representational personalisation, where identity takes visible form;
Synthetic personality, where AI and design create enduring, narratively consistent characters; and
Embodied digital humans, where multimodal intelligence (speech, gesture, emotion, memory) produces quasi-human agents.
What emerges through this progression is not merely technical sophistication but an ontological shift: the avatar as medium of being. The digital persona becomes an expressive membrane between reality, virtuality, and imagination — capable of teaching, performing, or collaborating. It mirrors our own fragmentation and multiplicity within the data-driven world.
Five-Year Outlook (2025–2030): From Representation to Relation
Over the next five years, the field will expand from representational fidelity to relational intelligence. By 2025–26, avatar systems will stabilise in education, customer service, and creative industries, achieving natural speech, gesture, and contextual adaptation. By 2027–28, avatars will be integrated into mixed-reality environments; they will perceive and respond to users’ moods, movements, and histories. Around 2029–30, avatars will act as social and creative agents — co-authors, co-teachers, companions, and performers — forming hybrid societies of human and synthetic subjectivity.
This expansion is economically significant (projected market growth of 30–50% per year) but also culturally decisive: the question of who we are becomes inseparable from how we design ourselves. The aesthetic and ethical task will no longer be to imitate humanity but to cultivate forms of co-presence that enhance learning, imagination, and empathy.
Three Fields of Transformation
Textile & Fashion Design
The avatar becomes a moving surface, a new body for textile experimentation. Designers will create fabrics that behave like responsive membranes — digital materials reacting to motion, light, and emotion. Virtual garments will link physical couture with coded identity, transforming fabric into interface.Literature & Performance (“Becoming Anselmo”)
The digital human becomes a mirror of the author. AI-voices and animated figures embody characters who can perform and reinterpret the text. The stage becomes a hybrid of presence and simulation, where human and virtual actors share consciousness — turning writing into a living process of becoming.Pedagogy & the Disegno Teacher
In design education, the avatar assumes the role of tutor and interlocutor. It can explain, critique, and adapt its teaching to each student, reflecting the core structure of Disegno: objectification, deconstruction, formalisation, composition. By 2030, such avatars will form distributed pedagogical networks — classrooms of mixed human and synthetic intelligence.
Ethical-Aesthetic Horizon
The future of AI-personalisation will hinge not on imitation but on relation: how to design entities that teach us to perceive again — to see, listen, and respond to the other. Virtual Personas must not only perform intelligence but cultivate it in us. They extend the philosophical lineage of representation — from portraiture and theatre to code and algorithm — into a new epoch where the form of the human is continuously negotiated between body, image, and data.
By 2030, we will inhabit a culture where every designer is also an author of presences, where the avatar becomes the central site of artistic, ethical, and pedagogical reflection — the contemporary theatre of Disegno: the design of thought, relation, and becoming.
PP-01
Virtual Personas
Description and Structure
Key question:
Artificial personas will have a significant impact on social development in areas such as politics, economics, education, and culture. How should we respond? Are we prepared?
When it comes to questions such as: What are AI agents in the form of a humanized interface, ranging from avatars to digital twins? What does this mean for our society and human communication? How do I implement this?" As designers, we must find the answers.
Conditions:
When it comes to the development of so-called avatars, a fundamental change is underway. This change will affect all areas of life in which artificial intelligence plays a central role—almost all areas of contemporary existence.
We are confronted with beings that talk to us, respond to our needs, express their own views, and offer advice. These beings are artifacts of artificial intelligence, and we can no longer distinguish them from real people.
The development of personas that can communicate independently and are indistinguishable from their human counterparts may surpass the invention of writing, printing, and mass media.
There is no question that AI avatars, digital humans, and virtual personas will profoundly impact essential areas of our lives. The changes to economics, politics, social interaction, and education are hard to overestimate.
This course will focus on virtual personas. We will explore the concept, its historical dimensions, ethical consequences, and the fundamental changes it has brought to our social reality.
Your task is to create a virtual persona for a specific application.The development process is divided as follows:
Block I
Day 1:
Discuss Task 1: Answer the questions about the task.
Work on the task. If necessary, ask questions about the task.
Day 2:
Present the results of Task 1 by displaying them in the seminar room in the form of double-pages A3/final A2 format. Students participating online should show the results as a photograph of the physical work.
Set Task 2.
The task must be completed by the second block of lessons.
Block II
Day 1:
Present the results of Task 2 by displaying them in the seminar room in the form of double-pages A3/final A2 format. Students participating online should show the results as a photograph of the physical work.
Work on the task 2 (further develop / improve).
Day 2:
Present the improved results of Task 2 by displaying them in the seminar room in the form of double-pages A3/final A2 format. Students participating online should show the results as a photograph of the physical work.
Discuss Task 3.
The task must be completed by the third block of lessons.
Block III
Day 1:
Present the results of Task 3 by displaying them in the seminar room in the form of double-pages A3/final A2 format. Students participating online should show the results as a photograph of the physical work.
Work on the task 3 (further develop / improve).
Day 2:
Present the improved results of Task 3 by displaying them in the seminar room in the form of double-pages A3/final A2 format. Students participating online should show the results as a photograph of the physical work.
Discuss Task 4.
The task must be completed by the fourth block of lessons.
Block IV
Day 1:
Present the results of Task 4 by displaying them in the seminar room in the form of double-pages A3/final A2 format. Students participating online should show the results as a photograph of the physical work.
Work on the task 4 (further develop / improve).
Day 2:
Present the improved results of Task 4 by displaying them in the seminar room in the form of double-pages A3/final A2 format. Students participating online should show the results as a photograph of the physical work.
Discuss Task 4.
The task must be completed by the fifth block of lessons.
Block V
Day 1:
Present the results of Task 5 by displaying them in the seminar room in the form of double-pages A3/final A2 format. Students participating online should show the results as a photograph of the physical work.
Work on the task 5 (further develop / improve).
Day 2:
Present the improved results of Task 5 by displaying them in the seminar room in the form of double-pages A3/final A2 format. Students participating online should show the results as a photograph of the physical work.
Organise the exhibition.
Virtual Persona /
Assignment 1
Defining the Persona
Aim of the Task
The first task establishes the conceptual foundation of the Virtual Persona project.
It is designed to make you aware that creating a digital character means shaping a form of presence—a symbolic and aesthetic construct that performs within social, cultural, and technological systems.
The aim is to understand that the Virtual Persona exists in the tension between reality and simulation: it may appear as an interactive streaming avatar, a virtual influencer, an AI-assisted presenter, an educational companion or an art figure as such.
By defining the field of activity and choosing a visual prototype, students articulate how a persona becomes a vessel for meaning, emotion, and cultural discourse.
Description
A Virtual Persona is not merely an animated figure or 3-D model; it is a designed interface of identity.
Each persona represents a particular understanding of what it means to act, speak, and be perceived in virtual space.
Therefore, this first task focuses on two key steps:
Conceptual definition – deciding what kind of persona you intend to create and in which field it will operate.
Prototype selection – identifying an existing image, figure, or visual reference that will serve as the aesthetic and emotional prototype of your persona.
Assignment
Prepare a Conceptual Dossier (2–3 pages A4 or equivalent digital presentation) containing the following six parts:
Title and Name of the Persona
Invent a name or working title that expresses its function and identity.Field of Activity
Define the context in which the persona will act: commercial, social, political, educational, artistic, or experimental.
Describe the platform or medium (e.g., Instagram, YouTube, interactive installation, streaming environment, educational portal).
3. Purpose and Role
What is the persona’s task or motivation?
What kind of exchange or experience does it create (informative, persuasive, performative, reflective, etc.)?
Audience and Communication Style
Identify the intended audience and the tone of communication (formal, playful, empathetic, critical, etc.).
Consider how the persona’s voice, gestures, or facial expressions address its viewers or users.
Ethical and Cultural Dimension
Reflect on what your persona says about presence, authenticity, empathy, and agency in digital culture.
Discuss possible risks or responsibilities implied by its public existence.
Visual Prototype
Choose an existing image, artwork, photograph, film still, or 3-D render that can serve as the visual prototype of your persona.
The prototype functions as the initial aesthetic and emotional reference for later design stages (form, gesture, facial structure, texture, color, atmosphere).
Include a short commentary (5–10 lines) explaining why you selected it and how it represents the essence of your persona.
You may use multiple prototypes to show variations or influences.
Outcome
A Persona Concept Sheet that demonstrates:
conceptual precision in defining the persona and its field of activity,
a conscious link between the conceptual idea and its visual prototype,
awareness of the ethical, social, and aesthetic implications of virtual identity,
and a visually clear, well-structured presentation.
Assessment Criteria
Clarity and coherence of the conceptual framework.
Depth of reflection on cultural, ethical, and aesthetic questions.
Originality and relevance of the chosen field and persona type.
Quality and justification of the visual prototype.
Formal and visual quality of the dossier presentation.
Virtual Persona /
Assignment 2
Developing the Final Figure
Aim of the Task
The second task translates the conceptual and ethical definition of the Virtual Persona into its visual and generative embodiment.
While Task 1 defined what the persona is and where it acts, Task 2 explores how it becomes visible and variable.
The goal is threefold:
To develop the visual identity of the persona through portrait and body drawings.
To deliver this identity into the latent space of AI, expanding its typology through machine variation.
To select one variant as the definitive figure from which the persona’s attributes, habits, and communicative behaviour will evolve in the following task.
This stage therefore marks the transition from representation to character formation—from an image to a being capable of action.
Description
Every Virtual Persona manifests through its figure: a visible structure that holds together concept, emotion, and gesture.
This figure must be flexible—able to vary without losing its core identity.
Through drawing, you’ll shape the figure’s typology; through AI, they test its generative potential.
The process reveals what defines identity in the digital field: what persists when form transforms.
At the end of this task, students will decide which version—drawn or AI-generated—best represents their persona’s essence and will become the foundation for all further development.
Assignment
Produce a series of drawings and generative explorations leading to one selected final figure of your Virtual Persona.
Portrait Studies
Draw the face and head in different expressions and perspectives.
Capture emotional range, gaze, and presence.
Body Studies
Explore posture, proportion, gesture, and rhythm of movement.
Show how the persona’s field of activity shapes its body language.
Typological Variations
Create at least five drawn variations of your figure derived from the prototype.
Aim for strong variation within a recognisable typology.
Combine different media (pencil, ink, collage).
Translation into Latent Space
Use AI tools (DALL·E, Midjourney, Sora, or similar) to generate further variations based on your own drawings and textual description.
Keep your prompt consistent with the concept from Task 1.
Select 3–5 AI results that best express your persona’s potential forms.
Comparative Reflection
Write a brief analysis (≈ 300 words) addressing:
how the AI’s versions differ from the hand-drawn ones,
what remains constant across all variants,
what this reveals about authorship and identity in the human–machine dialogue.
Selection of the Definitive Figure
From your combined drawings and AI results, choose one final variation that will serve as the official figure of your persona.
Explain in 5–10 lines why this version best embodies the concept.
Character Foundation
Based on the chosen figure, outline the further development:
preliminary list of characteristics (age, mood, role),
attributes (voice, dress, colour palette, materiality),
habits and gestures (recurring movements, expressions),
specifics of communication (tone, rhythm, language, form of interaction).
These notes will become the conceptual script for the next stage.
Final Presentation
Arrange the work on two or more A2 sheets containing:
the persona’s name,
one final portrait,
one full-body figure,
selected AI variations,
short reflective texts and the list of character foundations.
Outcome
A hybrid visual identity that bridges analog and digital creation, concluding with a clearly defined figure ready for further elaboration in Task 3.
The outcome should demonstrate:
typological unity within variation,
understanding of generative design processes,
and awareness of how visual form becomes behavioural structure.
Assessment Criteria
Conceptual coherence between Tasks 1 and 2.
Quality and variety of drawings and AI results.
Depth of analysis in human–machine comparison.
Precision in selecting and justifying the final figure.
Clarity and insight in defining attributes, habits, and communication traits.
Aesthetic and formal coherence of the A2 presentation.
Virtual Persona /
Assignment 3
Equipping and Defining the Persona
Aim of the Task
In the third task, the Virtual Persona becomes an active being.
After defining its conceptual role (Task 1) and developing its visual figure (Task 2), the focus now shifts to the embodiment of purpose, function, and context.
This phase transforms the persona from a visual prototype into a situated character—a designed entity prepared to act, speak, and interact within a specific field of culture, economy, or society.
Now you have to give your persona a clear purpose, define its field of activity, and equip it with the necessary attributes, tools, and environment that enable this activity.
The task bridges aesthetics and utility, narrative and design: it asks what a persona does—and what it needs to exist meaningfully.
Description
Every Virtual Persona operates within a functional world.
It may act as an interactive streaming avatar, a virtual influencer, a digital educator, a political communicator, a virtual artist, a digital twin, or a companion for practical or emotional support.
Each purpose determines how the persona appears, moves, and interacts—with people, with interfaces, and with its environment.
The task therefore involves two intertwined dimensions:
Definition of Purpose and Field — deciding where and why the persona exists.
Material and Symbolic Equipment — designing what the persona carries, wears, uses, and inhabits in order to fulfil that purpose.
In this sense, the persona becomes a microcosm—a figure whose external equipment expresses its internal logic.
Assignment
Develop a comprehensive design dossier (4–5 pages A2 visual presentation plus written reflection) containing the following elements:
Purpose and Field Definition
Choose one main category that best describes your persona’s function:
Politics, Economy, Education, Art, Cultural Communication, Health, Social or Emotional Companionship, Influence, or Digital Twinship.
Formulate a short definition (max. 150 words) of what your persona does, for whom, and why.
Identify its mode of appearance: streaming avatar, virtual influencer, AI presenter, guide, performer, etc.
Context and Environment
Describe the space in which your persona operates:
physical (studio, classroom, office, stage, domestic space)
or virtual (social platform, educational portal, metaverse scene, game world).
Provide visual sketches, collages, or screenshots showing possible settings or interfaces.
Reflect on how this environment reflects and supports the persona’s function.
3. Equipment and Attributes
Design the visible and functional elements that allow your persona to perform its role:
Clothing and texture – colour palette, style, symbolic meaning, material association.
Accessories and tools – objects used for action or communication (microphone, book, tablet, brush, medical device, emblem, etc.).
Interior or surrounding elements – items that express the persona’s world (desk, chair, instruments, digital interface, lighting, background scene).
Present each item with short annotations explaining its relevance and relationship to the persona’s purpose.
Communication Behaviour
Define how your persona interacts:
Tone and voice – emotional register, rhythm, accent, or mode of speech.
Gestures and movements – typical hand or head movements, posture, pacing.
Response behaviour – how it listens, reacts, smiles, or hesitates.
Language of interaction – text-based, voice-based, visual, or multimodal (for example: streaming avatar that nods while answering questions).
Include small motion sketches or short textual scripts that illustrate these behaviours.
5. Ethical and Cultural Reflection
Discuss what your persona’s existence reveals about human–machine relationships.
Consider the implications of representing a public voice, emotion, or identity through digital embodiment.
Reflect on the ethics of influence, persuasion, and empathy in the chosen field.
Presentation
Assemble your work as a visual and textual dossier combining drawings, AI-generated visuals, sketches of equipment, and concise written reflections.
Present one final composite image showing your persona in its complete form: clothed, equipped, situated, and active.
Outcome
A fully defined and equipped persona, ready for interaction.
The result demonstrates:
a clear definition of purpose and function,
a coherent relation between appearance, attributes, and activity,
an understanding of context and ethical dimension,
and the integration of aesthetic and performative design.
Assessment Criteria
Clarity and depth in defining the persona’s purpose and field.
Inventiveness and coherence in visual and material equipment.
Cultural and ethical awareness in the reflection.
Quality of integration between body, attributes, and environment.
Formal and aesthetic presentation (clarity, composition, visual unity).
Virtual Persona /
Assignment 4
Activation of the Persona
Aim of the Task
The fourth and final task transforms the Virtual Persona from a designed concept into an operational, performative, and social being.
Having defined its conceptual framework (Task 1), visual identity (Task 2), and purpose with material and behavioural attributes (Task 3), the focus now lies on technical implementation and activation.
Through this assignment, you will learn how to integrate your persona into interactive and generative platforms (such as HeyGen Interactive Avatars, Runway, or Sora) and to test its social and performative reality—either by staging it in an exhibition context or by launching it into the digital public sphere.
The goal is to explore the limits of representation: when the virtual persona begins to act, speak, and respond autonomously, design enters the realm of life performance.
Description
To activate a persona means to connect its designed figure and personality to a technical system that allows speech, movement, and interaction.
First, choose the tool and context that best fit your purpose. For example:
HeyGen Interactive Avatar – for dialogue-based characters and educational or communicative use.
Runway – for cinematic or influencer-style video performance.
Sora – for high-quality, narrative or performative short film sequences.
AI software tools in this area are constantly evolving. It's important to get an overview. Most tools have a free version, which allows you to experiment with them. It makes sense to share the results of your research with others.
Each implementation should aim to demonstrate not only technical competence, but the coherence of concept, figure, and function.
Students may choose between two principal activation paths:
Performative Activation – live or recorded performance, installation, or projection (suitable for exhibition).
Social Activation – creation of an active online persona (e.g., virtual influencer or educator) tested in real public interaction and follower engagement.
Assignment
Develop a fully implemented and performative version of your Virtual Persona through one of the following pathways:
Technical Implementation
Select one or more AI tools appropriate to your persona’s purpose (HeyGen, Runway, Sora, Inworld, Synthesia, etc.).
Prepare or adapt scripts and prompts based on your previous tasks:
persona description and field of activity (from Task 1)
visual and typological data (from Task 2)
behavioural and communicative traits (from Task 3)
Train or configure the persona to speak, move, and respond interactively.
Experiment with different prompt formulations to refine tone, vocabulary, and gesture.
Document the process through screenshots, test videos, or prompt sheets.
To get an overview, please refer to the worksheet, “Tools for Implementing Virtual Personas,” and conduct your own research.
2. Performative / Social Activation
Decide whether your persona will act:
in an exhibition or live setting (installation, projection, screen-based performance), or
in the digital public sphere (social media, YouTube, TikTok, or similar).
For online personas (influencer models), design a strategy for engagement:
define target audience, frequency of appearance, and thematic content,
track visibility (followers, views, or reactions) as part of the experiment.
For performative presentations, develop a short scripted sequence (30 sec – 2 min) in which the persona introduces itself and performs a characteristic act (teaching, persuasion, emotion, humour, etc.).
Exhibition and Documentation
Present your activated persona in one of the following formats:
Exhibition installation – projection, monitor, or interactive display.
Online presence – functioning account or video series.
Hybrid performance – combining digital output with live or spatial elements.
Include a technical documentation:
prompt scripts and tool settings,
description of workflow and challenges,
reflections on the relation between design intention and system output.
4. Reflective Statement
Write a short essay (≈ 400 words) discussing:
what changed when the persona was technically activated,
how the tools extended or distorted its identity,
what kind of “reality” emerged through public or performative exposure,
and what this experiment reveals about agency, authorship, and influence in the era of AI-mediated identity.
Outcome
A technically implemented and publicly activated Virtual Persona, demonstrated through video, live performance, or online presence, accompanied by documentation and reflective analysis.
The outcome should show:
technical and conceptual integration,
aesthetic coherence between design and function,
understanding of performativity and interaction in AI-based systems,
and awareness of the cultural and ethical dimension of digital presence.
Assessment Criteria
Functionality and coherence of technical implementation.
Integration of conceptual, visual, and behavioural aspects.
Clarity and creativity of performance or social activation.
Depth of reflection on authorship and agency.
Quality of documentation and presentation aesthetics.
Note
This task concludes the Virtual Persona module. Together with Tasks 1–3, it forms a continuous research process:
Definition → Embodiment → Equipment → Activation.
The final presentation or exhibition brings these dimensions together in a shared exploration of how virtual beings reshape the boundaries between design, performance, and social reality.
Virtual Persona /
Assignment 5
Collective Exhibition and Curatorial Framework
Aim of the Task
The final task transforms the individual works into a shared curatorial experience.
After each student has defined, embodied, equipped, and activated their Virtual Persona, the goal now is to design a collective exhibition — a spatial, digital, and conceptual framework through which all personas can appear together.
This task asks:
How can virtual beings co-exist within a shared space?
What kind of stage, architecture, or interface is required to present them?
How do individual voices form a collective narrative about identity, technology, and society?
The emphasis lies equally on curation and communication — how to design relations between works, audiences, and media.
Description
The exhibition serves as the activation of the collective field.
It integrates physical presentation formats (objects, screens, installations, drawings) with digital presences (websites, social platforms, streaming channels).
Students will collaborate in groups to propose a conceptual and spatial framework that accommodates all personas and makes their interrelations legible — thematically, visually, and ethically.
The exhibition may take place in:
a physical gallery or studio (multi-screen setup, projection space, interactive stations),
an online environment (shared website, YouTube channel, or social media hub), or
a hybrid constellation combining both.
Assignment
Curatorial Concept
Read the paper “Curatorial Structure Proposal” carefully.
Define a collective title and a conceptual statement (≈ 200 words) summarizing what the exhibition explores about virtual identity, presence, and society.
Identify key thematic threads connecting the individual personas (e.g., empathy, power, education, performance, influence, intimacy).
Determine the narrative flow: how visitors encounter the personas — sequentially, simultaneously, interactively, or immersively.
Spatial / Digital Framework
Design a floor plan or spatial diagram showing how each persona will be displayed.
Physical: screens, projections, printed drawings, sound zones, or objects.
Digital: common landing page, navigation map, or social media grid.
Define points of interaction: where and how audiences can speak to, listen to, or observe the personas.
Include a simple technical plan (equipment list, connection of screens, sound routing, lighting).
3. Visual and Graphic Identity
Develop a collective visual system (logo, typography, color palette, signage) that unites all personas without erasing their individuality.
Design poster, invitation, or digital announcement.
Create a short introductory video or trailer presenting all personas together (using clips from the activation stage).
Online / Social Extension
Establish a shared digital space for the exhibition:
website or online archive (e.g., Notion, Miro, Readymag, Squarespace).
collective social media account (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube).
Decide how each persona contributes content (video posts, dialogues, live sessions).
Formulate a strategy for audience engagement and analytics (e.g., interactions, comments, follower response).
Curatorial Roles and Collaboration
Distribute responsibilities within the group:
Curatorial coordination
Technical realization
Graphic design
Online management
Documentation and reflection
Encourage collaboration across fields: visual communication, design, sound, coding, dramaturgy.
6. Reflective Documentation
Each group submits a short curatorial dossier including:
concept statement and visual identity,
floor plan or digital map,
screenshots or photos of setup,
visitor reactions or social metrics,
reflection on how the exhibition mediated between human and virtual presence.
Outcome
A collectively curated exhibition—physical, digital, or hybrid—presenting the Virtual Personas as a network of interacting identities.
The outcome demonstrates:
understanding of curatorial design as a form of media thinking,
capacity to integrate artistic, technical, and communicative dimensions,
and awareness of how virtual identities shape cultural experience.
Assessment Criteria
Conceptual coherence of the curatorial idea.
Integration and dialogue among individual personas.
Spatial and digital clarity of presentation design.
Aesthetic and graphic unity of the collective identity.
Quality of collaboration and documentation.
Reflective depth regarding public interaction and ethical implications.
Note
Task 5 concludes the Virtual Persona module and represents its collective synthesis:
Definition → Embodiment → Equipment → Activation → Exhibition
The final exhibition acts as both a mirror and amplifier of the course’s central question:
How do designed digital beings re-define what it means to appear, to act, and to share a world?
PP-01
Virtual Personas /
Workload
General Aim
The Virtual Persona project explores how identity can be designed, embodied, and activated in the digital age.
Students learn to conceive, visualize, implement, and present a Virtual Persona through five consecutive tasks — from conceptual definition to public exhibition.
The process combines philosophical reflection, drawing, AI-based experimentation, and curatorial design.
Documentation Requirement (applies to all tasks)
For each task, students must produce:
At least 2 double-page A3 sheets (final format A2) that combine:
all printable texts (reflections, dossiers, concept statements, documentation), and
all printable images (visual prototypes, drawings, AI generations, photographs, screenshots, exhibition views, etc.).
These sheets serve as both process documentation and final presentation material.
At the end of the semester, all A2 sheets from Tasks 1–5 will be combined into an individual portfolio, representing the complete design process of the Virtual Persona.
Task 1
Defining the Persona
Aim: Establish the conceptual and ethical foundation of your Virtual Persona.
Main Tasks:
Decide what kind of persona you will create (educational, social, political, artistic, commercial, etc.).
Define its field of activity and intended audience.
Choose a visual prototype from existing imagery as aesthetic reference.
Output:Concept Sheet (2–3 pages A4).
2×A3 double sheets (A2 final) combining text and prototype images.
Outcome:
A clearly articulated persona concept with name, role, field, and reference image.
Task 2
Developing the Final Figure
Aim: Translate the conceptual definition into a visible and variable figure.
Main Tasks:
Create portrait and body drawings.
Produce AI-based variations and analyze typological identity.
Select one final figure for further development.
Prepare a written reflection on human–machine authorship.
Output:Drawings + AI images + 300-word reflection.
2×A3 double sheets (A2 final) summarizing analog and digital exploration.
Outcome:
A hybrid visual identity that bridges drawing, typology, and AI interpretation.
Task 3
Equipping and Defining the Persona
Aim: Give the persona a clear purpose, attributes, and communicative character.
Main Tasks:
Define the final purpose (educator, influencer, artist, companion, etc.).
Design clothing, tools, and environment corresponding to this role.
Describe behavioural traits, gestures, and tone of communication.
Output:Dossier (4–5 pages A4) with text and visualizations.
2×A3 double sheets (A2 final) showing design of attributes and interior.
Outcome:
A complete description of the persona’s purpose, world, and communicative style.
Task 4
Activation of the Persona
Aim: Implement and perform the persona through digital tools and public presentation.
Main Tasks:
Technically realize the persona using HeyGen, Runway, Sora, or related tools.
Experiment with prompts, gestures, and speech.
Choose between performative activation (exhibition/live) or social activation (influencer/online presence).
Document the process and write a reflective analysis.
Output:1–2 minute video or interactive demo + documentation + reflection.
2×A3 double sheets (A2 final) combining screenshots, prompts, and commentary.
Outcome:
A functioning digital persona capable of speaking, acting, and interacting.
Task 5
Collective Exhibition and Curatorial Framework
Aim: Present all student personas together through a collective curatorial concept.
Main Tasks:
Develop a collective exhibition (physical, digital, or hybrid).
Create a curatorial statement, layout, and shared visual identity.
Organize works within three Fields of Activation:
Education and Knowledge
Influence and Power
Emotion and Companionship
Prepare posters, video trailer, and online extension.
Output:Group curatorial dossier + documentation of setup and visitor interaction.
2×A3 double sheets (A2 final) summarizing the curatorial framework.
Outcome:
A collective exhibition and online presentation that unites all personas in a shared cultural field.
Overall Progression
Phase
Focus
Output Format
Documentation
Task 1
Concept & Prototype
Text + Image Sheet
min. 2×A3 (A2)
Task 2
Drawing & AI Typology
Drawings + AI + Reflection
min. 2×A3 (A2)
Task 3
Purpose & Equipment
Dossier + Visuals
min. 2×A3 (A2)
Task 4
Technical Activation
Video + Documentation
min. 2×A3 (A2)
Final Portfolio
At the end of the module, each student assembles at least 10 double A3 sheets (A2 format) — two for each task — into one coherent portfolio documenting the entire design process.
This portfolio represents the full conceptual, visual, and technical development of the student’s Virtual Persona from idea to exhibition.
Tools for Implementing
Virtual Personas
Interactive & Conversational Avatars
Tools for creating real-time, speaking, and responding personas — ideal for education, dialogue, and streaming
HeyGen Interactive Avatars – lifelike AI avatars with real-time conversation and customizable identity.
Inworld AI – builds conversational characters with memory, emotional depth, and personality settings; strong for narrative and gaming contexts.
Soul Machines – hyperreal digital humans for emotional interaction, used in health, education, and corporate communication.
Character.AI – text-based characters with unique personalities, ideal for rapid prototyping of dialogue and tone.
Hume AI – focuses on emotionally intelligent avatars that respond to facial expressions and tone of voice.
Convai – designed for embedding conversational avatars into 3D or game environments (Unity/Unreal).
Replika – AI companions that simulate emotional conversation; good for exploring affective dimensions of virtual identity.
UneeQ Digital Humans – professional-grade avatars for customer service, healthcare, or education.
Video Creation, Animation & Performance
Tools for animating faces and bodies, producing performative or cinematic sequences
Runway – video generation and editing from text or still images; ideal for influencer or cinematic persona development.
Sora (OpenAI) – high-fidelity video generation from text prompts; powerful for conceptual or performative experiments.
Pika Labs – text-to-video and video editing AI; flexible and intuitive for short social or artistic clips.
Kaiber – transforms static images into dynamic, cinematic sequences; useful for persona trailers or performances.
Synthesia – generates professional talking-head videos in multiple languages, widely used in education and corporate training.
DeepBrain AI – similar to Synthesia; strong lip-sync and avatar personalization features.
Hour One – creates video presenters and virtual humans from text input; designed for educational or commercial use.
Elai.io – fast avatar video generation with voice synthesis; good for social media and explainer formats.
3D Character & Environment Creation
Tools for designing the visual and spatial identity of the persona
Ready Player Me – customizable 3D avatars for web, VR, and metaverse platforms.
MetaHuman Creator (Epic Games) – photorealistic digital humans for Unreal Engine; excellent for high-end artistic work.
ZEPETO Studio – avatar and environment creation for social platforms; used for influencer and youth culture projects.
VRoid Studio – anime-inspired 3D character creator; highly adaptable and intuitive for stylized personas.
Blender (with AI plug-ins) – open-source 3D modeling and animation environment; allows deep customization.
Leonardo AI / KREA – AI-assisted image generators useful for designing props, clothing, or environments.
Voice, Speech & Sound Identity
Tools to design how a persona sounds and speaks — essential for presence and empathy
ElevenLabs – high-quality AI voice synthesis and cloning; expressive and multilingual.
Play.ht – converts scripts into natural voiceovers; supports emotional tone control.
Descript (with Overdub) – combines editing, voice cloning, and podcast-style video production.
Respeecher – voice recreation and transformation for film and media.
Voice.ai – real-time voice changing and personalization for streaming or social media personas.
Social & Performance Platforms
For activation, diffusion, and performative experimentation
TikTok / Instagram / YouTube Shorts – real-world arenas for influencer or performer testing.
Twitch – live streaming with avatar overlays (integrate with OBS or VTuber software).
VTuber Studio or VSeeFace – real-time facial tracking for streaming avatars (works well with Ready Player Me or custom 3D models).
OBS Studio – for recording or streaming live performances that mix digital and physical presence.
Integration & Workflow Tools
For connecting multiple tools or creating hybrid workflows
Hugging Face Spaces – hosts open-source AI models for voice, text, or image processing.
Unity or Unreal Engine – integrate avatars, environments, and conversational scripts into interactive experiences.
Notion + ChatGPT / GPTs – use as scripting or behavioural design environments (e.g., to generate prompts or dialogue scripts).
Canva AI Video / Animoto – fast, simple compositing tools for persona documentation or promotional clips.
Suggested Integration Models
Persona Type
Main Tools
Goal
Interactive Teacher / Lecturer
HeyGen + ElevenLabs + Runway
Create educational avatar with speech and gesture.
Virtual Influencer
Runway + Sora + TikTok
Build social persona, track audience response.
Emotional Companion
Inworld + Replika + Hume AI
Explore affective presence and dialogue.
Political Spokesperson
Soul Machines + Synthesia + Sora
Create persuasive, ethically charged communicator.
Digital Artist
MetaHuman + Runway + OBS
Perform AI art creation as hybrid human/avatar.
AI Presenter for Exhibition
HeyGen + Hour One + Unreal Engine projection
Stage persona as performative installation.