At last year's CES, LG Electronics unveiled Reah Keem as a 'virtual influencer'. And this year, as promised by the company, the 23-year-old virtual human debuts as a singer following an agreement with Mystic Story, an entertainment company run by South Korea's veteran singer-songwriter Yoon Jong-shin who has released songs in collaboration with various artists.
Reah's music video teaser was released during LG's event at this year's CES to introduce an innovative lifestyle where AI robots coexist with humans.
- LG TVs will soon offer access to doctors and dentists virtually for a flat fee
- LG’s Omnipod self-driving concept is actually an entire world on wheels
Really, virtual is real
The emergence of Reah Keem --- remember, she is a virtual entity, and in older days the pronouns for her would be different --- as a singer gives us a possible look at what’s around the corner in entertainment as the make-believe and physical worlds collide to create a world of surrealism, as it were.
As LG's press release unironically stated, "under the tutelage of Mystic Story, Reah will take part in a new project led by founder and executive producer Yoon to showcase Reah’s distinctive voice."
The LG press release did not stop at that. It had quotes from the virtual human. And she said: “Singing about universal themes such as love, acceptance and unity is what I want to focus on."
That is not all. Reah is in a mood for more artistic collaborations. “In the near future I’d love to work with various artists in fashion and visual arts to broaden the style of content for my fans to enjoy. The opportunities as a virtual artist are endless.”
That last line makes you to break into a wry smile.
The future is already upon us
And for those who think that this might be some stray, one-off whacky sci-fi attempt, sorry to break it you, there are quite a few virtual influencers out there --- some of them with millions of real followers on social media platforms.
Reah herself has a full-fledged vivacious life on her social media account. On Instagram, she has more than 14,500 followers. Let us parse it even more clearly: There are real-life people in all seriousness following a non-real person, who is now turning into a singer.
Reah, in Korean language, means “a child from the future”. The futuristic child is already an adult in our present. It is difficult to think past that.
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