[Keke] I kind of wanna just get creative
since we're in the metaverse.
- Let's do it - Ooh, yeah!
[upbeat music]
- [Keke] Welcome to "Are We There Yet?"
The show where we take a road trip into the metaverse
while chatting with the most
interesting creators,
educators, and experts
to find out
where the metaverse stands now,
And what's coming in the future.
I'm Keke Palmer.
Our guest is Victoria Young of YONK.
An incredibly talented VR
sculpting duo from the Netherlands,
who collaborate on some
of the weirdest, wildest,
and YONKiest artwork in the metaverse.
Welcome, Victoria!
- Hello!
- I heard that you're gonna
be doing some VR sculpting
for us on this road trip?
- I am indeed.
- Well, let's get started!
[engine and digital beeping sounds]
- Hmmm, back on the open road again.
[laughing]
So, Victoria, I can't believe that you actually created
a lot of these creatures.
[Keke] Can you point out some of your favorites to me?
[Victoria] So that one's called Grimblefrapp,
a very cheeky little character.
[Keke] They look very handmade.
[Keke] How did you guys even arrive at that kind of style?
- Well, that's all in the program itself.
I'm not like the best drawer,
but what makes it amazing is that this technology
allows us to just jump in.
[Victoria] You really feel like
you're working with your hands.
[Victoria] You get this bubbly
imperfection surface.
[Victoria] This is something that's really
putting the human touch back into it.
- These hands!
These hands, you know this is
virtual representation
of mine and Niels' hands collaboration.
- Yes, I love that!
[Keke] So I mean, how did you and Niels
start working together?
I hate that he can't be here! - I know!
[Victoria] We were in one class together
and Niels turned up
to the class late on the first day.
And he was like, you know, like,
'Hey!', he did like a little [wink sound]
- Oh, yes!
- to the teacher and I was like, 'Who is this guy? Wow!'
He's amazing, you know? And we fell in love.
- Y'all in love, too? - Yeah!
- Wait a minute, I didn't know this! Yes, yes!
[car horn honking]
- Wait a minute, this is sooo good!
Can I also just say, I love the name YONK!
How'd you guys come up with that?
- We did what like all celebrities do,
like, celebrity couples.
And we just got my second name, Young
And Niels', well Niels' is van der Donk,
but we just got the Donk part.
- Come on, Donk! - Yeah, Donk!
- You guys have some really nice names.
- Yeah.
Young and Donk and we just, like, smashed it together.
- Oh my gosh!
- And it works, I mean, like, people use it.
They're like, 'You've been YONKed!'
- So how did you guys, you know,
decide to take the transition into the tech world?
- Basically, we just discovered VR.
We could just, like, collaborate together and make work.
And also make work, like,
really quickly and intuitively, as well.
- I have to ask, have you ever thought about animation?
Like, I feel like I can fill a voice
for a character.
[Keke] Like this guy with those big ol',
like, pointy things on his head.
[Victoria] Oh yeah?
[Keke in a funny voice] He probably talks like this, or...
- Oh yeah, yeah, you can see that.
It's like, oh, like.
- Yeah, his face is like this.
I feel like everything's drawn out...
- I'm gonna go home and animate it exactly that way.
Can you do the voice for that?
[Keke in funny voice] Yes, I'd love to.
- I mean, all of this talk makes me wanna ask you
if I can see you create something
in the metaverse in real time, like right now?
- Absolutely!
Good thing there's
a Quest right here! [twinkle sounds]
[laughing]
- Okay, what do you wanna see?
- Well, I really do love a lot of cooking in the metaverse.
So maybe you can make me, like, a sandwich?
- Sure, absolutely... Here we go!
Yeah, that looks pretty sandwichy to me.
- Kind of wanna just go crazy since we're in the metaverse.
So what if we put like a, some fish on there?
Like sardines, or something? - Oh yeah, sure!
- Let's make 'em purple because, why not?
[Keke] I'm just gonna go crazy here
and say we put, like, a waffle.
And maybe we put, like, a little butter on top?
- Oh yeah, yeah... Let's do it!
Quite a strange representation of a waffle.
I don't think I've seen a waffle for a while
And we'll just do, like, a huge stick.
- Ooh, yeah!
I feel like we're just about there.
I feel like, you know, we can put
spaghetti and meatballs on the top of that
and finish it off like that.
[Victoria] Okay, let's do it, here we go.
[Keke] It's looking good!
[Victoria] Yeah? [Keke] Mmhmm!
[Victoria] Okay, sweet!
- And I know I said I was done, but I have literally
just one more thing that I think you'll love...
A cherry on top!
- Oh yeah!
- Ah, I love it!
- A little sandwich.
[Keke] It's a masterpiece!
[Keke] Thank you so much for creating
this beautiful piece for me!
I can already see it in my metaverse mansion, girl!
[laughing]
I know you guys are pioneers in this space,
but I think even you would be surprised about
all the things happening in the metaverse, right now.
So would you be down to play a little game with me?
- Absolutely, let's do it!
- Okay, let's try... this one!
[engine revs]
[Keke] This game is called "YONKing My Chain"
I'll read you some headlines and I want you to tell me
if you think it's real or am I YONKing your chain?
Researchers at a Japanese university
have created a prototype device
that electronically stimulates your tongue
to allow users to chew on virtual steaks.
- I wanna say real, cause I want that to be true.
[bell dings three times] - It's real!
- It's real? - It's real!
- I can have some virtual steak?
- Yes, girl! - Amazing, oh, I want it!
- The newly released immersive experience,
"Virtual Frankenstein", involves you
bringing an avatar with artificial intelligence,
to life.
Then scrambling to escape it after it turns on you.
- I'm gonna say you're YONKing my chain.
[bell dings three times] - I am YONKing your chain.
[laughing]
A Vermont tech firm is rushing to be the first
to release a smell pod that attaches to your headset.
- So I wanna say it's real,
but I think you're YONKing my chain?
[sad xylophone]
- I'm not, it's real, girlfriend!
- It's real? - It is real!
- You can actually smell the virtual steak.
- Come on, the virtual steak?
- Girl, we need that!
- Yeah, we do, we do!
- That's all I got, thanks for playing!
What do you say we get back on the road?
- Sure, let's do it!
- All right.
[engine revs]
- So it was fun hearing about, you know,
the beginning of YONK.
Well what's YONK up to now?
- One new thing that we're doing is we're making a game.
- What? - Yeah, I know!
We always had the dream to make a game.
I said to him, like, 'Why don't you make it a YONK game?'
Because we have all of these, like,
YONK characters.
[Keke] That's so cool!
[Victoria] Yeah! It's gonna be cute!
And maybe sometimes
a little bit terrifying,
but like in a good way, you know?
- Yes!
- It's like it's gonna be, just, "YONK, the game."
- Sounds like something I'm definitely gonna play.
- Exactly!
- I'm very curious to know if there are people
or creators that really inspire you?
- So many creators inspire us.
[Victoria] Illustrators
like Joseph Melhuish.
You see his works come to life
in this new form.
And you can see it opening up doors for people.
[Keke] I don't know if there was a technology
before the metaverse that really allowed you
to collaborate in the way that you guys can now?
- Yeah! We have this stream where we invite friends,
it's "YONK & FRIENDS".
[Victoria] And they enter
a virtual space with us.
We've had people from Australia,
people from America,
everywhere that we normally would never meet.
- Yeah!
And then now we can just invite them
[Victoria] into our virtual studio
and we are sculpting together.
At the end of it,
we all, like, hug each other
in the metaverse as well. - Oh my gosh!
- Because it feels like you're actually there
with them, you know?
It's kind of like a little perfect story.
I don't know why?
- It really is, it really is because it's,
it's all built on passion! - Yeah, exactly!
- That's what life is about.
Well, I'm sad that this is the end of our road trip.
But I've had a blast chatting with you today!
- Same!
- Shout out to Niels, man, we missed you,
but I really do love my girl Vikki!
So it was all good!
- Awww!
- Shout out to the whole YONK family!
- Yeah, the YONK fam! - I know!
And make sure you guys join us next time
to see where else we go into the metaverse!
And see who joins us on our journey!
Ooh!
Okay, that one did kind of scare me
a little bit right there.
- Yeah, yeah. They're terrifying!
- Yeah! - But in a good way.