Jing Sun

Jing Sun is a multimedia artist with a passion for storytelling and visual aesthetics from Jiangsu, China.

She hold a Bachelor's degree in Animation: Game Arts from the University of the Arts London. During her undergraduate studies, she developed expertise in Animation Principles, Visual Narratives, Animation Theoretical Studies, Exploratory Practice in Game Arts, Traditional 2D Animation, 3D Animation, Visual Effects, and Character Design. She actively participated in various projects, such as hand-drawn frame-by-frame animation, stop-motion animation, pixel art game, and virtual environments using UE4. In addition, she collaborated with a London game company, Project AR, to contribute to the creation of 3D virtual characters for the mobile game "The Jack."

During her study at the Royal College of Art in Digital Direction, she worked on various projects including 3D Scene Narratives, Virtual Human-VR Interaction using UE5, and creating Visual Novels with Renpy.

My practice revolves around exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence, virtual characters, and digital immortality. I am intrigued by the idea of a large language model crawling personal data to create a dataset that could potentially impersonate individuals in their interactions. This curiosity sparked my initial thought about the boundaries between human identity and AI replication.

Additionally, my fascination with Virtual YouTubers inspired me to delve deeper into the concept of digital personas that transcend reality. I recognized the power of these virtual characters to exist independently, with their own interests and creative works, even in the absence of their creators. This realization motivated me to embark on a project that aims to bridge the gap between Virtual YouTubers and the notion of preserving memories through a virtual character.

Through this project, I seek to utilize AI and virtual characters as a means to share stories and experiences that can endure beyond one's lifetime. By exploring the potential of AI technology, I hope to uncover new possibilities for digital immortality and offer a platform for memories and narratives that might otherwise be lost to the passage of time.

Project Description

"Echoes of the Yesteryears" is a project that explores the nostalgia of the ACG (Animation, Comics, and Games) culture by authentically recreating a specific period through the lens of personal and shared childhood memories. It also seeks to push the boundaries of interactive storytelling and AI technology. In the form of a visual novel, the project incorporates a hidden object game mechanic, challenging players to find missing items and unlock new content along the way.

Gameplay Trailer – The game features three distinct endings, each determined by the number of artifacts that have been successfully located throughout the journey.