Even though our society idolizes pop stars, fanboys and fangirls used to demand a couple of things from them. Maybe a new album every year or so, or an over-publicized breakdown to read about in the tabloids. Unobjectionably, we ask them to at least be human. Singularity Hub reports on a rising Japanese diva, Hatsune Miku, who defies even that simple criteria. Hatsune, you see, is a hologram.
Well, technically she’s a computer program. Developed by Crypton Future Media, Hatsune Miku is half vocal-synthesis software and half three-dimensional visual projection. Performing one of her brainwashingly catchy synthpop tunes, Hatsune looks like a hyper-real Sailor Moon, but with a wardrobe that changes more often than Lady Gaga’s. When she’s all booted up, she can sing in key and cut a rug. And even if you think it’s a gimmick, it’s a gimmick that can sell out a concert hall.
Source: Singularity Hub
Image by ceasol, licensed under Creative Commons.
