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Music

Are CG Idols The Latest Pop Phenomenon?

The newest member of Japanese pop group AKB48 is not quite the girl(s) she seems.

Some members of the Japanese girl group AKB48 have joined forces in a whole new way to try and become the perfect pop act. Their newest member, Eguchi Aimi, joined them in early June, but it has recently been revealed that Aimi is in fact a computer-generated facade composed from six of the AKB48 girls' features. After initially trying to convince the public that she was a real (human) part of the group, and even creating a profile for her on their website, AKB48 have now released a video that shows which parts of Eguchi Aimi come from which girl.

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The results are rather convincing, and Aimi has even been seen performing live as an energetic 3D hologram. The technology behind her existence hinges on the latest 3D imagery combined with Yamaha’s Vocaloid programming, which enables songwriters to generate authentic-sounding vocals by tapping into a virtual library of thousands of voices and effects.

Eguchi Aimi is definitely not the first virtual popstar to come out of Japan; other stars before her such as Hatsune Miku and Ho-kago Tea Time have enjoyed great success despite being cartoons, and fellow holographic superstar Hatsune Miku can even draw a crowd all by herself, making us think that perhaps CGI is the future of great pop music. Suppose we started combining other famous faces to create super acts?Bieberlicious!