Over 25 million videos online show nothing more than whispering, brushing, or tapping sounds. How have creators of these unusual videos helped people fall asleep?
There is no one in the picture, only a black microphone and a pair of hands with long manicured nails slowly rubbing a square sponge, making a slight rustling sound. For a full three hours, no one spoke, and the video relied on the constantly changing, fragmented sounds. This seemingly strange video has received over 100 million views on YouTube.
This is a video by the creator Coromo Sara. She brought cotton swabs, brushes, combs and other items close to the microphone to create sounds, attracting nearly three million fans on YouTube. Nowadays, there are tens of thousands of sleep-aid creators like her. Their content may seem strange, but it can help people fall asleep.
When Chinese creator Yufei Chen first came across ASMR videos, she was immediately attracted by this peculiar sensory experience. “I felt my scalp tingling and my lower back a little itchy. There was a warm current in my heart, and I felt extremely relaxed”, said Yufei.
This type of video has a specific name: ASMR, which stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. It refers to a peculiar yet relaxing physical reaction, usually manifested as a tingling sensation that starts from the scalp and extends to the neck and shoulders. A 2018 study showed that the tingling sensation brought by ASMR can help people relax, reduce anxiety and even fall asleep.
It is often certain specific sounds or movements that trigger this sensory response. This type of sound is called trigger sounds and is the most core element in ASMR videos. Common trigger sounds include soft whispers, fingernail tapping, brush rubbing, and finger rubbing, among others. Different people react differently to different sounds, so creators will constantly try various combinations to meet the preferences of different audiences.
For Yufei, and many other ASMR creators, such videos not only bring unique feelings but also change the course of her life. ASMR is no longer just a hobby for her to relax, but has become a full-time job that she devotes time and energy to every day.
Yufei began creating in 2019. At that time, she was a junior and had a lot of free time, while the creators she followed updated rather slowly. So, after watching all the videos, she thought, “Why not make one myself and have a look?” That’s how her first video was born. As more videos were released, she gradually accumulated a fan base and began to take this creation seriously.
Compared with simple sound stimulation, role-playing videos make it easy for viewers to feel emotionally engaged. In these videos, creators play roles such as a doctor or a makeup artist. Through one-on-one interaction, they make the audience feel that someone is taking care of them.
As Dr Craig A. H. Richard, the founder of the ASMR University website, said in a 2018 interview, the triggers of ASMR often stem from a feeling of being cared for or looked after. The sense of security and relaxation can trigger a gentle physical response, making people feel at ease.
In the field of role-playing ASMR creation, Yufei is already one of the most recognisable creators. In her account, she has posted over 300 videos, most of which are around different role-playing roles. She is skilled at designing creative and relatable characters, such as manicurists, convenience store staff, plastic surgeons. She also carefully matches the clothing and styling and sets the corresponding scenes according to the theme of each video.
“The immersion of role-playing videos might be a bit stronger. I can bring my audience into the sleep atmosphere I want to create for them more quickly. And everyone can also choose their favourite scene and theme to fall asleep”, said Yufei.
In her highly rated work, she played a cosplay makeup artist, dressed in Gothic-style clothing and wearing a silver-purple gradient wig, with the background set as a makeup room under purple lights. In the video, she whispers and communicates while using various tools to “do makeup for the audience”, and even adds the sticky sound effect of chewing bubble gum to enhance the sense of reality.
The production of this video is far more complicated than people imagine. Yufei said, “Whenever I have an idea, I will consider whether it can be realised, then refine the script, purchase props, set up scenes, design the styling, and finally shoot and edit it.” The preparation period of a role-playing video often takes a week or even longer.
To ensure a sense of immersion, Yufei often rents a dedicated shooting location and sets different theme areas according to the script. It could be a beach, an ancient-style courtyard, or a medical room.
On the screen, the video only shows a small part of the picture in a 16:9 aspect ratio, while in reality, the sets, props and lighting equipment occupy the entire room. “I bought a lot of props and set up the scenes on a large scale, but in the end, only a very small part of them can appear in the video”, said Yufei.
For her, creation is not only a workflow but also emotional labour. She projects her own desires and experiences into the characters, allowing the audience to find comfort and companionship in the videos.
“When I was a child, I especially longed for a gentle elder sister. When I grow up, I hope I can become emotionally stable and be the one who can comfort myself. So I will play these roles into the videos, hoping that the audience can also feel warmth and strength from it”, said Yufei.
This emotional value is also conveyed to the audience through the screen. Some viewers shared their experiences, regarding the characters in the video as a form of emotional support.
Rui Lin, a 19-year-old college student, is most fond of dentist situational videos. “I have misaligned teeth and have wanted to correct them since I was a child, but my parents didn’t agree. This has become my obsession”, said Rui. These role-playing videos made her feel that some unfulfilled wish was comforted in the video.
Another long-time viewer, Mei, who is 26 years old and a graduate student, prefers watching mother-role-playing videos. She admitted that she was a left-behind child when she was young, spent very little time with her mother. She often imagined the gentle female creator in the video as her own mother. “Sometimes I feel that in another world, I was really treated so gently”, said Mei.
However, creators also understand the needs of the audience, and they will deliberately create such an intimate atmosphere.
Dingdang is a male creator who has just transformed into a full-time professional. He has received a lot of attention for his role-playing video titled “The Male Deskmate Who Has a Crush on You”. In front of the camera, he chats with you and takes care of you, as if he were really getting along with someone. “What people care more about is the eyes, the performance and the creation of the atmosphere rather than just the voice”, said Dingdang.
To create this sense of intimacy, creators often design the details with great care. Nowadays, the creation of intimacy through ASMR has gradually developed into a set of techniques. An ASMR website has released tips for creating a boyfriend ASMR: writing scripts that easily evoke warmth and care, controlling the speaking speed and pitch, and choosing scenes that are close to daily life.
All these points are also reflected in Dingdang’s videos. He sets the plot to chat with you after class and give you a small gift. He speaks slowly, with a gentle tone, and sometimes approaches the camera, pretending to be close to you. In such a setting, the audience easily immerse themselves in it. Someone in the comments wrote, “If I had such a deskmate, it would make me very happy.”
Romantic role-playing is so touching because it allows people to see an idealised intimate relationship. “Some people might think, ‘This is my ideal partner’. What these videos offer is the yearning for a wonderful relationship, not just a tool for falling asleep”, said Dingdang.
Role-playing also requires creators to invest a great deal of energy and emotion in their work. Yufei once said that she doesn’t feel relied upon by the audience as a burden: “This is my job, what I should do.” While providing high-quality sleep-aid works, she also regards meeting the emotional needs of the audience as part of her job.
In this kind of interaction, ASMR live streaming takes this experience to a high level. Unlike recorded videos, ASMR live streaming is a form of real-time interaction. Viewers will input the sounds they want in the bullet comments, and the host will respond immediately. During this process, the streamer not only creates voices but also maintains communication with the fans.
Meng, a 24-year-old ASMR anchor, starts broadcasting almost every night at 11 p.m. lasting until 4 a.m. From rubbing hands, tapping cups to cleaning ears, every sound immediately responds to the audience’s needs.
“Live streaming is more intuitive and has a stronger sense of presence”, said Meng. “Viewers can immediately hear their favourite voices and interact faster.”
During the long live streaming, Meng gradually has some loyal companions. She said that some people come to “check in” almost every day, as if they have developed a fixed bedtime ritual.
Yutong Han is one of them. She is a long-time enthusiast of ASMR live streaming and always turns on Meng’s live stream punctually before going to bed every day. “I care more about the feeling of companionship. I know there’s someone awake at the moment, doing these things for me to lull me to sleep, and that makes me feel much more at ease”, said Yutong.
Although it seems that only some props are used to make soft sounds, ASMR live streaming is not easy. Streamers often work in a reversed day and night schedule, staring at the bullet comments for several hours every night, adjusting the content rhythm at any time, and always maintaining a kind and gentle state.
“When my traffic was at its peak, I was actually under a lot of pressure, feeling like I was carrying the expectations of many people. I was very unhappy during that period. Every day after work, I would always be alone for a long time”, said Meng.
Dingdang has also recently started to try to shift from video to live streaming. But the high-intensity working hours have been bothering him a lot recently. Because sleep-aid videos have extremely high requirements for environmental noise, he can only choose to record in the early hours of the morning. “The shooting time is usually at 2 a.m., and the live stream usually ends after 3 a.m. I have no energy left to record videos after the live stream. That’s so hard”, said Dingdang.
Despite the emotional drain and high-intensity work pace that creators are facing, ASMR still attracts an increasing number of people to join in. It is gradually evolving into a career path and an industry.
At first, many creators made videos just out of interest in their spare time, but nowadays, an increasing number of ASMR creators have chosen to create full-time. Yufei said that in China, there are already some creator agencies that specifically train ASMR streamers. They provide equipment support such as microphones and background settings, and even offer specialised courses on how to create trigger sounds or design live streaming scripts.
The content of ASMR has also become increasingly refined. Many bloggers have turned ASMR into an immersive performance. The most typical example is YouTube creator Moonlight Cottage ASMR, whose videos are like medieval movies. She dresses up as a witch, pharmacist or maid, with props such as candlelight, wooden houses, quills, etc., and the background is beautifully set like a movie scene.
As creative methods continue to evolve, people’s imagination of ASMR is also constantly expanding. In addition to the reproduction of real-life scenes, future technological innovations will bring about a deeper level of immersive experience.
In recent years, AI has also begun to enter the ASMR field. On TikTok, the account @asmraiworks has posted AI-generated ASMR videos featuring surreal scenes such as eating lava, cutting glass fruits, and cutting gold and diamonds, complemented by delicate sound effects, presenting a fantastical experience that cannot be achieved in reality. This account currently has 172,000 followers, and its latest video has received 462,000 views in a short period of time.
The integration of AI has made ASMR no longer confined to the production of human creators, but has become a digital experience that constantly breaks boundaries. “I look forward to future technological innovations bringing more new experiences to ASMR, allowing audiences to enjoy a more immersive experience”, said Yufei.
