China-related 2021 research on digital humans and closely adjacent virtual beings collectively frames the area as an end-to-end pipeline in which visual realism and controllable animation are treated as enabling infrastructure for real-time, socially situated applications, with work on detailed facial appearance and surface variation aiming to increase perceived authenticity, and work on low-latency body tracking via wearable sensing emphasizing robust performance capture outside studio conditions so that movement can be transferred credibly to digital embodiments. Building on these technical foundations, the papers shift toward operational concerns in live and interactive settings, including avatar-mediated workflows for e-commerce live streaming and techniques that support expressive virtual performance under imperfect alignment between performer and on-screen persona, reflecting the practical realities of creator tooling, broadcast conditions, and audience expectations. Another thread focuses on immersive game-like experiences where virtual characters are designed to amplify emotional engagement through responsive behavior and situational design rather than appearance alone, while a further applied line extends digital human representations into scenario-based simulation by combining physical behavior with simplified cognitive components to support analysis of complex environments. Taken together, the 2021 picture is of a field moving from isolated graphics or tracking components toward system-level integration where realism, responsiveness, robustness, and human perception must be balanced for deployment across entertainment, commerce, and simulation, alongside an implied need for clearer ethical and governance framing as such representations become more persuasive and operationally embedded.
Bai, Z., Yao, N., Mishra, N., Chen, H., Wang, H., & et al. (2021). Enhancing emotional experience by building emotional virtual characters in VR volleyball games. Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds.
Bao, L., Lin, X., Chen, Y., Zhang, H., Wang, S., Zhe, X., ... & Zhang, Z. (2021). High-fidelity 3d digital human head creation from rgb-d selfies. ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG), 41(1), 1-21.
De Seta, G. (2021). Huanlian, or changing faces: Deepfakes on Chinese digital media platforms. Convergence, 27(4), 935-953.
Deng, Q., Ma, L., Jin, A., Bi, H., Le, B. H., & et al. (2021). Plausible 3D face wrinkle generation using variational autoencoders. IEEE Transactions on ….
Fu, X., Li, Q., Ji, N., Xu, H., Chai, Z., & et al. (2021). Design and application of virtual avatar framework based on e-commerce live streaming. 2021 20th International ….
Li, J., Liu, X., Wang, Z., Zhao, H., Zhang, T., & et al. (2021). Real-time human motion capture based on wearable inertial sensor networks. IEEE Internet of Things Journal.
Li, Z., Hao, J., & Gao, C. (2021). Overview of research on virtual intelligent human modeling technology. 2021 IEEE Asia-Pacific Conference on ….
Tang, M. T., Zhu, V. L., & Popescu, V. (2021). Alterecho: Loose avatar-streamer coupling for expressive VTubing. 2021 IEEE International ….
Wang, D., Cao, S., Liu, X., Tang, T., Liu, H., & et al. (2021). The virtual infantry soldier: integrating physical and cognitive digital human simulation in a street battle scenario. The Journal of ….
Yu, Q. (2021). MMORPG avatars: Representations of escapism in Chinese society based on semiotics of culture.