Japanese Pop Star Draws Crowds Despite Being a Hologram

[Uzza]

Version for people who dont like too young japanese girls in miniskirts.

I know everyone has to right to enjoy themself no matter how but I still find it strange that they would pay good money to watch what is pretty much a projection onto a pane of glass.

I know everyone has to right to enjoy themselves no matter how but I still find it strange that they would pay good money to watch what is pretty much a projection onto a white sheet.

See the similarities?
The only difference is that there are a lot more people actually doing the latter, and I imagine you do too.

 

[Olorune]

I'm feeling a strange mixture of confusion, pity, and terror...

You're not alone...although, I'm actually feeling a little more...uhh....<---That! I'm feeling like that...

 

[Vhite]

Version for people who dont like too young japanese girls in miniskirts.

I know everyone has to right to enjoy themself no matter how but I still find it strange that they would pay good money to watch what is pretty much a projection onto a pane of glass.

Eye candy. Vocaloids are pretty neat software and some people make some nice songs with it but main reason why they are popular is because they were made in Japan. It wouldnt be them if they havent add whole character,personality and backstory to the voice. Fans like to see their favorite characters perform "IRL".

 

[shadyh8er]

I read the headline and suddenly I realized: We're in the motherfucking future.

Good to know I'm not the only one who had this revelation.

 

[Kirch Libre]

*pokes head in*

Yup. Ironic thread is still ironic.

 

[Low Key]

Maybe it's my lack of sleep, but I am completely dumbfounded by this. WTF Japan.

 

[Ericb]

From a technological standpoint this is great, though a not a real hologram. You can see the thin screen from some angles, that just projected 3D on a 2D plane, though it looks very convincing.

But from a human-human interaction standpoint...

I have just come from a four hours long play about sex and cultural repression directed and starred by a revolutionary Brazilian actor called Zé Celso with massive audience participation filled with enthusiasm and happiness. The one from yesterday was six hours long and just as fucking great.

Machines will never replace this, it's not what worries me.

What does worry is that Japan is actually trying to go down that path on many different fields. The hikikomori and soushoku danshi phenomena show strong signs of this (Vincent from the upcoming Atlus' game Catherine seems to be an example of the second one).

 

[Julianking93]

Is it weird that I find this awesome?

On a side note... I love that song. Just saying >>

 

[Jake the Snake]

You know I'm not even surprised. This is Japan we're talking about. Fucking anything is possible.

 

[thepyrethatburns]

*Shrug* This probably IS the future. Some of you may remember how, in 1996, Fred Astaire was digitally brought back from the dead in order to sell vacuums so the concept behind this isn't entirely new. As our technology continues to advance, I see no reason that this won't become increasingly mainstream.

Even if we retain human musicians to actually sing the songs, this technology will allow those musicians to hide behind a persona in concert allowing them to reap the benefits of performing (in multiple concerts at the same time even) while retaining the anonymity necessary to have a personal life free of paparazzi.

The future is coming and, in every facet of our lives, the human factor is becoming increasingly irrelevant.

 

[TeeBs]

Id hit that.

 

[Canid117]

So can we use this technology to bring John Bonham back?

 

[fulano]

Sharon Apple, here we go...

Thanks for nothin' Japan.

 

[Paragon Fury]

Ladies and gentlemen, I invite you to stand with me in saluting Japan.

Thank you Japan, for improving our lives in ways we never even thought possible.




PS: Now get to work on the holodecks and working mecha.

 

[Arawn.Chernobog]

I'm still waiting on giant killer robots

At which point I will welcome and embrace our new Japanese overlords

 

[GloatingSwine]

Pop band being holograms?

http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2000-06-23

Thank you Mr. Tayler for devining this 10 years ago!

William Gibson was on the case four years before that. William Gibson has always been on the case.

 

[Thaliur]

Hmm, the tech is nice, although her voice does sound fake to me (then again, this also applies to Katy Perry, Casha and the likes of them...).

I personally think Jeff Wayne's Richard Burton hologram is by far more amazing. It was modeled after actual photos of the person in question, it has an actual skin texture, and most importantly has more than the standard anime mouth positions "open" and "closed", with slight emotional variations, the graphic representation is actually moved by motion capturing an actual actor:
http://www.thewaroftheworlds.com/features/video-2.aspx

Sadly, I couldn't find a video showing the head in action above the stage.
In case you're wondering why they did that: Richard Burton's voice is seen as an integral part of the whole musical, and since he's dead, he can't play his role himself. That's why they made this 3D representation. The first version was actually a montage of Mr. Burton's head and another actor's mouth and eyes for expression (although blended into each other seemlessly) that was projected onto a simplified styrofoam head, so the viewing direction was fixed. Sadly, I couldn't find any videos showing the new head above the stage, but I guess they'll show up on U-Tube eventually.

 

[Torrasque]

Considering the amount of adoration that many people throw at anime characters and manga characters, this is no surprise.
The technology is really win though, and I cannot wait for it to be used in everyday application.

 

[vrbtny]

The first song is fucking awesome!!

Since when was there such a thing as Japanese rocksynthopop?