ENTER THE DRAGON

Content creator Stefan Li, aka the Sushi Dragon, is revolutionizing livestreaming with his innovative use of consumer tech.

- NORA O'DONNELL

In a sea of Twitch creators, where viewers can watch everything from pro gamers to scantily clad women making pancakes, there's one feed that's aiming to redefine what it means to livestream. Whether he's broadcasting from an 8,000-square-foot warehouse in Montana or out in the field, Stefan Li uses the latest in consumer technology to create augmented realities in real time. He effectively acts like a conductor who can trigger effects that alter his facial expressions, his voice and his environment without any need for a film crew or a postproduction team.

"I'm essentially building a video game based on real life," says the 31-year-old Li, who's known to his nearly 300,000 followers on Twitch as the Sushi Dragon. On his streams, which can run for hours, there's the casual audience interaction that's become a staple on Twitch channels, but what sets Li apart is his use of technology. With a small AR monitor covering his right eye, a computer strapped to his body and a one-handed keyboard controller, Li can produce a multicamera one-man show that uses the same filter technology that's available on Snapchat or Zoom. When everything works in harmony, Li can layer voice and face effects not only on himself but those around him. "I call that the perfect flow," Li says.

Li's journey to that technological flow state has taken years to develop. Growing up in Hawaii, Li wasn't overly obsessed with gadgets. "I was like every kid growing up in the '90s, consuming pop culture and video games," he says. "I wasn't a productive kid at all."