Chongqing Digital Human Timeline

Notes:

Chongqing is rapidly advancing the integration of AI and virtual digital humans across government, industry, education, and public services as part of its broader “Digital Chongqing” strategy. Government agencies at all levels are deploying digital humans to explain and broadcast policies, provide public service announcements, and assist in civic engagement. Notably, Chongqing launched its first “DeepSeek” AI-powered digital human livestream platform and integrated AI digital assistants into municipal services such as airports, banking, healthcare, and emergency response. The city’s technological ecosystem supports startups and companies focused on virtual human production, such as Chongqing Modao Li Technology and BOLAA, with custom services for cultural tourism, metaverse development, and education. AI-driven digital humans are also used in employment training, financial literacy outreach, digital broadcasting, and investor relations. Educational institutions like Chongqing Three Gorges Vocational College and Chongqing University are developing digital human applications for learning and research, while local initiatives promote elderly digital inclusion and talent recruitment for the digital economy. Chongqing’s “1361” framework—centered on a unified data platform and multi-tiered governance—is the backbone of its smart city modernization, positioning digital humans and generative AI as tools for efficient urban management and public service enhancement.

In December 2019, Chongqing-based DAWA Future Image Technology Co., Ltd. made a significant breakthrough in digital human technology by demonstrating what CEO Lu Qi claimed was “the first and highest-quality digital man technology, breaking the foreign blockage of real-time digital man technology” at the Advanced Graphic Technology and Cross-Over Virtual Platform Summit. The demonstration featured a sophisticated 57-sensor motion capture system that could create real-time virtual images of people, with the technology already having proven its capabilities on a national scale by helping the 3rd Academy of CASIC develop the “Digital Military Parade Simulation System” used in China’s National Day Parade – making it one of the nine highlighted innovations of that historic event and representing China’s entry into independently developed real-time digital human technology.