MULTIMEDIA: Computer-generated, 3D pop star performs at sold-out concert
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PRI/BBC/WGBH, The World, July 4, 2011
STREAM OR DOWNLOAD FEATURE: http://www.theworld.org/2011/07/digital-pop-star-hatsune-mikus-first-live-concert/
I’ve covered plenty of concerts, but a recent show by Japanese pop icon, Hatsune Miku, was the first that felt like a life-sized video game. Miku’s style is studio-polished J-pop. During her U.S. debut at Nokia Theatre, Americans were treated to Miku’s hits performed by her dancing, 3D hologram. Miku, you see, is a “Vocaloid” — a digital pop persona serving as the public face for sophisticated voice-synthesis software. That means anyone can use the software to write their own Miku-sounding track and play it back in chirpy Miku style. It turns out anyone can dress up like Miku, too, as I learned at Anime Expo, which was the host of the big concert (one of my Miku-spotting photos above; more photos and the broadcast available through link).
