Japanese pop star Hatsune Miku recently announced her plans to embark on a tour of the U.S. and Canada for the first time earlier this month. While this might not seem incredibly newsworthy upon first glance, there's a little detail that gives it a bit of a notable twist: to some, she doesn't exactly exist.
Hatsune Miku (whose name means "first sound from the future") is holographic pop star, or a "virtual singer," according to her website. An anime character come to life, the humanoid holographic voice synthesizer is the brainchild of the software company Crypton Future Media, which created and launched the star seven years ago, and is voiced by Japanese actress Saki Fujita.
The site also reports that the singer has released over 100,000 songs worldwide, has a following of 2.5 million fans, and refers to her as a "hub," or a global icon, due to the fact that "the culture around her encourages a worldwide creative community to produce and share Miku-related content." The singer's vast content is created and curated by members of the otaku subculture — aficionados of manga and anime culture — who record songs using the GarageBand-like program Vocaloid; in turn, the recordings are sent in to be uploaded to her digital set list.
To perform live, a 3D holographic Hatsune Miku is projected onto the stage, much like past holographic performers (for example: the resurrected rapper Tupac at the music festival Coachella in 2013).
As for the American reception to the singer? The New York Times resignedly labeled her as the "[representation of] the inevitable," while the news and culture site Vulture lauded her as "the piece of software" and as "the future of music. As a projection who has performed on David Letterman and opened for Lady Gaga, the split opinion on her has only fueled her visibility on the American cultural stage.
As of now, the J-Pop hologram is scheduled to embark on the States-side tour in late April, with stops in San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, Dallas, Toronto and New York City.
Watch the virtual pop star perform her hit song "World is Mine" live in the video below.
Via: Gizmodo
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