K-Pop's newest band member will be a CGI generated digital human

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By Matthew Griffin Virtual World 21st November 2020

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

Everything you watch through a screen is just a collection of digital pixels, and as AI gets better at generating synthetic content real human performers could be less relevant …

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As I continue to watch the rise of new virtual artists and influencers, from Japan to the USA, like Lil Miquela and many others, K-Pop girl band aespa has announced that it’s adding a new member to its ranks named “ae-KARINA.” But there’s something different about this particular band member. She’s an entirely virtual, computer generated avatar, not a real singer like her fellow band members.

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The band, licensed under SM Entertainment, confirmed that its work will feature both real life and “virtual” band members. The backstory of ae-KARINA says she’s 20 years old, from Korea — and the digital counterpart to the band’s IRL band member Karina, also a 20 year old from Korea.

See the newest band member being introduced

The pair reportedly have “various skills including vocals, rap, and dance,” according to English-language k-pop site Soompi.

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A new video uploaded by the site introduces the virtual avatar and discusses how the various band members connect with her via social media. It’s not clear who will be running the virtual band member’s accounts.

The South Korean entertainment industry is no stranger to putting a digital avatar on stage. For instance, the band K/DA is entirely virtual and was created by Riot Games, the developer behind the popular online battle game “League of Legends.”

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Hatsune Miku, an entirely computer-generated “Vocaloid” powered by a Japanese media company, also was set to perform at Coachella this year, but as you may have heard, basically every major music event, including Coachella, was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. And while that’s a crying shame who knows, maybe next year some of these virtual influencers will forgo appearing at live events altogether and instead attend some of the new spectacular mixed reality events, like League of Legends Worlds event that I wrote about recently, instead.

Source: AllKPop

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Matthew Griffin, multi-award winning Futurist and named Futurist of the Year 2024, has been described as a "Walking encyclopaedia of the future" by NASA and a futurist polymath. One of the world's most renowned futurists and strategic foresight experts Matthew is the 15 times author of the blockbuster "Codex of the Future" series, and is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working across the next 50 years, XPotential University, the world's first free futures and foresight university, and the World Futures Forum which works with the United Nations to solve the worlds greatest challenges. Matthew is an in demand international keynote, acclaimed university lecturer and mentor, and host of the hit Fanatical Futurist podcast.

A rare talent in his past Matthew helped build and run several multi-billion dollar business units for Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, and his ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends on global business, culture, and society has earned him a powerful reputation and a roster of clients that include royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77+ governments, and many of the world's most respected brands including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi Group, Coca Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Disney, Dow, EY, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, and many others. He was also the only futurist invited to talk at the UN COP28 held in Dubai alongside world leaders.

Regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, Matthews mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.