It is expected that virtual idols will establish themselves as prominent groups in K-pop’s 5th generation
Non-face-to-face service emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic. In particular, the music industry is one of the markets that faced many changes in that period as the virtual world and virtual artists began to expand their presence.
Virtual idols are online characters, not real people. Various types of virtual idols have appeared one after another and they are arousing as much attention as existing rookie groups. As 5th-generation idols are making their debut, the public is looking forward to whether virtual idols can grow into strong pillars in the 5th generation.
Most virtual idols are real people dubbed behind handsome and cute avatars. The virtual five-member boy group PLAVE debuted in March and realized people’s voices and movements on avatars through motion tracking and real-time rendering technology. Literally, there is a real person behind the avatar, and the avatar reproduces the actions of that individual. This allows the avatar in the virtual world to sing and dance just like the real person. Released in August, PLAVE’s mini album “ASTERUM: The Shape of Things to Come” surpassed 200,000 copies in the first week.
ISEGYE IDOL has songs sung by real people and choreography performed by dancers. Releasing their third single “KIDDING” in August, the virtual group achieved 2 million streams on Melon within a day and rose to No.6 on TOP100 chart. In addition, this is the first Korean virtual idol to rank No.167 on Billboard’s Global 200 Excl. US. This example proved that virtual idols can really become more popular.
Created using real-time rendering and motion capture technology, APOKI recently held a comeback showcase. Regarding the strength of being a virtual idol, they said, “The space is not limited. I think the artwork in the music video can look cooler”.
IITERNITI, produced by AI graphic company Pulse9, is also dubbed by real people. However, the different detail is that this is the first virtual human girl group created with Pulse9’s AI technology ‘Deep Real AI’. In other words, they merge the face of a real person into the avatar’s face using that technology. The group debuted in March 2021 and has even held concerts. 500 audiences attended IITERNITI’s concert in October. In an interview, Pulse9 said, “The limitation of virtual idols is that they cannot be touched or seen in front of our eyes. In order to overcome this, we have prepared collaborations with real human artists. The singer-songwriter who does the voices for member Jane will appear on the concert stage to show a live performance.”
Unlike other virtual idols, Kakao Entertainment’s virtual group MAVE: was created with 100% AI without humans. Speaking 4 languages (Korean, English, French and Indonesian) through AI technology, the members live in the metaverse world, and AI creates all their music, dance, interviews, hairstyles, etc. MAVE: debuted in January this year with the first single “PANDORA’S BOX”. Their debut song “Pandora” achieved 45 million Spotify streams and 30 million views with its music video on YouTube, boasting a strong impact like real idols.
Regarding the increasing popularity of virtual idols, pop culture critic Lee Jong-im shared, “Fans have become accustomed to consuming content and interacting with idols non-face-to-face for almost three years”, adding “It seems that the idea of virtual idols and real idol groups’ integration has become more acceptable”.
Source: Naver
