/ Hatsune Miku
Hatsune MikuPosted on January 4, 2011 in Mixed Reality by dulce303
Hatsune Miku (初音ミク).… First Sound Of The Future, a 21st Century Pop Star.
Hatsune Miku is taking entertainment by storm, she’s a virtual entertainer that is completely computer generated and programed. A singing synthesizer holographic digital avatar that was developed by Crypton Future Media, Incorporated (クリプトン・フューチャー・メディア株式会社), and uses Yamaha Corporation‘s Vocaloid (ボーカロイド 公式サイト)synthesizing technology.
Her look is anime and larger than life, she’s a 16-year-old Lolita that will never age and will always be evolving. Her voice was made by taking vocal samples from the voice of actress Saki Fujita at a controlled pitch and tone. Each sample contains a single Japanese phonic which when strung together would create full words and phrases. The pitch of the samples are altered by the synthesizer engine itself and is constructed with a keyboard style instrument within the Vocaloid 2 program. She has a series of online games where users can dress her up, have singing competitions and create music videos. Hatsune Miku has even performed live on stage to sold out crowds in Japan. She is the first 3D holographic computer generated pop star to sing her infectious tunes to screaming, adoring and loyal fans, (most of which seem to be young Japanese men in their twenties…LOL). Don’t believe me watch the video for yourself…. and yes those are leek shaped glow sticks.
WOW! Huh? How did they do that you ask? Well, it’s a modern take on the Victorian magical illusion of Pepper’s Ghost. It’s a theatrical technique that’s been in use since the 1860′s, but Musion 3D Holograms has taking the art form to a whole new level. They’ve combined the old with the new to create a brand new entertainment experience that’s going to become more common as we move through the century. In fact some current pop stars have tried to incorporate this new form of entertainment into their lives shows, some with great success… some not so much.
Vocaloid’s 21st Century Rockstar Hatsune Miku is just one of many virtual characters in it’s arsenal, but she is the fan favorite and the star of her record label Karent.jp, .
My fascination with Miku has followed me into Second Life, where I’ve dressed Kandy Roussel up in the Miku style. =]
