BiPSEE and University of Tokyo Survey 193 VTubers on Mental Health
This is one of the first large-scale empirical studies to move beyond the benefit/risk binary in avatar-mediated work, offering a typology that could inform how agencies and digital therapeutics developers design support for VTubers.
Key Facts
- The survey included 193 VTubers affiliated with bond Inc., with 168 in Japan and 25 overseas.
- Four statistical profiles were identified: Buffered Self (42 people), Fusion (43), Puppeteer (31), and Inherited Self (77).
- The paper was accepted at HCI International 2026 and presented online in the poster program Cluster 14: Healthcare, Well-being, and Aging.
- The study was approved by the University of Tokyo's Ethics Review Committee under approval number UT-IST-RE-250508_7.
- BiPSEE Inc. coordinated the survey implementation with bond Inc., and BiPSEE researchers participated from design to analysis.
Reporting from 2 sources: MoguLive, PANORA.
BiPSEE Inc., a Tokyo-based health tech startup, participated in a University of Tokyo-led research project that surveyed 193 VTubers affiliated with the agency bond Inc. The study, conducted with bond's cooperation, examined how VTubers engage with their avatars and how that relates to self-expression and psychological burden. Of the 193 participants, 168 reside in Japan and 25 overseas. Using four indicators (avatar identification, idealized avatar, acting tendency, and expression of the true self), the researchers identified four statistical profiles: Buffered Self (42 people), Fusion (43), Puppeteer (31), and Inherited Self (77). The results show that self-expression and psychological burden coexist in different combinations depending on the profile, rather than falling into a simple benefit or risk dichotomy. For example, the Fusion type had the highest self-expression but also the highest role conflict and elevated depressive symptom scores. The paper, titled "Latent Profiles of Avatar-Mediated Streaming and Mental Health in VTubers: A Four-Profile Typology," was accepted at HCI International 2026 and presented online in the poster program Cluster 14: Healthcare, Well-being, and Aging.
- BiPSEE's team includes Shohei Komatsu, Director and CPO, who joined the research from design through analysis. The University of Tokyo side is Yoko Koyanagi, Project Researcher, with Michiaki Hirose of Tokyo University of Technology also listed as an author.
- The study received approval from the University of Tokyo's Ethics Review Committee (approval number UT-IST-RE-250508_7). Recruitment ran through bond's staff, and the research team never contacted VTubers directly.
- Depressive symptoms were measured with the PHQ-9, which the paper notes is a symptom scale, not a depression diagnosis. The authors also state the four profiles are group-level statistical trends, not individual diagnoses or hiring criteria.
- The conference runs July 26-31, 2026, at the Montréal Convention Centre in Canada. The paper is presentation number 1451.
- No statistically significant differences appeared among the four profiles in subjective or retrospective mental health improvement compared with before streaming. Age, biological sex, activity duration, and nationality also did not predict profile membership.
- Self-concept clarity, or how clearly a person perceives what kind of person they are, was broadly tied to lower burden. The negative association with depressive symptoms held for Buffered Self, Puppeteer, and Inherited Self, but not clearly for Fusion.
- Researcher Yoko Koyanagi said virtual streamers often announce hiatuses or retirements for mental health reasons, and that empirical work on avatar-specific psychology has been limited. bond president Ryosuke Sumiyoshi called the 193-streamer survey "an unprecedented scale in the industry."
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.