Holograms and AI can bring performers back from the dead – but will the fans keep buying it?

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Fans can mourn the passing of music legends for years, the hits echoing long after the original voice is silenced.

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https://theconversation.com/holograms-and-ai-can-bring-performers-back-from-the-dead-but-will-the-fans-keep-buying-it-202431https://theconversation.com/holograms-and-ai-can-bring-performers-back-from-the-dead-but-will-the-fans-keep-buying-it-202431
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Friday, June 2, 2023
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People, Technology, YouTube, Roy Orbison, Travel, Night at the Museum, Archive, ABBA, Virtual concert, Light, Human, Emotion, US, Museum, Contemporary art, Artificial intelligence, Ethics, AI, Whitney Houston, ABBA Voyage, Music, Tourism, Entertainment, Customer service, Security printing
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COACHELLA
Summary
Key Points: 
  • Fans can mourn the passing of music legends for years, the hits echoing long after the original voice is silenced.
  • Little wonder, then, that recent advances in holographic technology and artificial intelligence have found a ready market for performances from beyond the grave.
  • Since a holographic Tupac Shakur headlined at Coachella in 2012, there have been similar tributes to Frank Zappa and Roy Orbison.

Virtual success

    • A true hologram is a 3D object produced by the intersection of light and matter, designed to be observed from all perspectives.
    • With the exception of ABBA’s recently developed holographic concert, today’s holograms are more akin to digital videos, where images are projected onto a translucent screen in front of real musicians, with the virtual artist seeming to interact with the band and audience.
    • Still, the demand and enthusiasm for virtual concerts is rising steadily, with impressive crowd turnouts and fans paying as much as US$125 for a ticket.

‘Ghost slavery’

    • After analysing upwards of 34,000 online comments discussing the virtual concert, we found audience members reported positive responses overall.
    • Two comments are indicative of the general feeling:
      I don’t care if they’re avatars.
    • Nobody expected ABBA to ever reunite in any way, shape, or form, so this is amazing!
    • It would be so wonderful to see them as I remember them and transport myself back to my childhood.

Replacing the irreplaceable

    • The process involves a detailed scan of the artist to create a 3D digital model which AI then refines.
    • Next, movements are digitised through motion capture and transferred onto the model (again using AI), recreating an artist’s distinctive performance.
    • Replacing the irreplaceable may be possible at some level, but ultimately the audience will decide.
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