Naver D2SF said on July 9 it made a new investment in virtual entertainment startup 23rd Century Children.

The investment was made after assessing that 23rd Century Children is expanding intellectual property (IP) based on content production capabilities specialised for virtual artists and its own technology pipeline. The company has developed in-house virtual user experience (UX) technologies, including real-time motion capture, toon shader, quadruped walking and a flying motion control system. It has built a workflow that enables rapid content production with fewer staff.

23rd Century Children is developing its own IP based on its understanding of the entertainment industry and fandom culture. Its virtual boy group WEGO6, unveiled last year, has introduced a multi-persona concept in which members operate based on their own personas, strengthening narrative and communication features.

Kim Hyung-min (김형민), CEO of 23rd Century Children, said the company plans to use the investment as a stepping stone to strengthen its content production infrastructure and deliver a higher level of completeness. He said it will build its own technologies to create fan-participation content not seen in the existing entertainment industry.

Yang Sang-hwan (양상환), head of Naver D2SF, said 23rd Century Children is a team challenging itself to expand the virtual industry based on content planning and an advanced production workflow. He said Naver D2SF has continued investing across all areas of related technologies and plans to explore potential cooperation points with related organisations, including Naver's entertainment business and Motion Stage.

Naver D2SF has invested across the full range of virtual content technologies, including 3D engines, data, motion capture, virtual character IP production and operations, and it plans to continue discovering related technology startups.