3D singing hologram becomes one of Japan's biggest pop stars

[jimmy olsen]

Pretty impressive hologram, but a bit creepy. I can't wait to see Lettow's interpretation. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTXO7KGHtjI&feature=player_embedded

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1329040/Japanese-3D-singing-hologram-Hatsune-Miku-nations-biggest-pop-star.html

Japanese 3D singing hologram Hatsune Miku becomes nation's strangest pop star

By Niall Firth

Last updated at 2:14 PM on 12th November 2010


She is cute, stylish and has had a number one chart-topping single.

But Japan's newest and biggest pop star differs from most of her peers in one crucial aspect: she is a hologram.

Hatsune Miku has taken the music scene by storm in her native Japan where her concerts are always sold out and are full of screaming, adoring fans.

Now, like something out of a science fiction film, videos have emerged which show Miku on tour in Japan, singing a selection of hits.

Miku is a digital avatar created by Japanese technology firm Crypton Future Media that customers can purchase and then program to perform any song on their computer.

She is supposed to be 16 years old and five foot two inches tall but her makers have given little away about her personality.

Crypton uses voices recorded by actors and then puts them through Yamaha's Vocaloid software to create its characters.

Miku's voice was created by taking vocal samples from the voice actress Saki Fujita. All of the samples contained a single Japanese sound which when strung together would create full words and phrases.

Her music and image have proved so popular that she has now gone on a sell-out tour where thousands of fans wave light sticks and scream as if she is a real-life pop star.

It is the first time a hologram has been used on stage in this way, moving and strutting just like a real pop star.

Gorillaz, the band fronted by Damon Albarn, used projected holograms at the MTV music awards in 2005 and 2006 but these were projected onto a back screen, rather than in full three dimensions.

Miku has become such a star that she already has a fan club, Facebook page and has set up 'her' own record label. She has also appeared in a number of episodes of popular Japanese anime TV programs.

She performed her first 'live' concert in 2009 and has also travelled to Singapore on tour.

In March 2010 three metal plates with Hatsune Miku's image etched on them were placed on board Japanese spacecraft Akatsuki and sent into space after a nationwide petition with more than 14,000 signatures demanded she be included.

[Ed Anger]

Its no My Little Pony.

[Josquius]

How very Macross Plus

[Josephus]

I'd hit it. 

[Brazen]

I worked with the author at my last job    Now he's at the Daily Wail

[Brazen]

I'd hit it. 

No you wouldn't. You'd go right through "it".

[Malthus]

Yet more proof that the Japanese were nuked either too much or not enough.

[Slargos]

Fucking awesome. I wonder how long it will take the japaneese to solve the flesh-problem entirely. 

[Caliga]

Yet more proof that the Japanese were nuked either too much or not enough.

[Siege]

Amazing.

And to think that just last night I watched "Vexille", an anime in which Japan isolate itself from tje world and they all become cyborgs.

[Josquius]

So apparently this is full commercial software.
The singing that is, not the hologram.

[Martim Silva]

Fucking awesome. I wonder how long it will take the japaneese to solve the flesh-problem entirely. 

And then conquer Earth with massive armies of anime schoolgirls? 

And to think that just last night I watched "Vexille", an anime in which Japan isolate itself from tje world and they all become cyborgs.

Added to my 'to watch' list.

That said, I always wanted to become a full-body cyborg. Hope they get the technology right in the next few decades.

[HVC]

The Japanese are just odd

[Martim Silva]

The Japanese are just odd

[Martim Silva]

So apparently this is full commercial software.
The singing that is, not the hologram.

Yes, Vocaloids can sing for themselves.

Pretty cool, if one thinks about it.