tldr: miku-earth is an interactive map of individuals’s drawings of the digital idol Hatsune Miku dressed within the nationwide costumes of nations and subcultures world wide.
I prefer to think about that Hatsune Miku is simply step one in a brand new period of digital celebrities, paving the best way for the likes of William Gibson’s Rei Toei to all of the sudden emerge as actual digital beings. Each Miku and Rei Toei embody the idea of digital stardom, blurring the boundaries between the true and the digital, and difficult our notions of what it means to be a star.
Whereas Hatsune Miku was initially created as software program, she has developed far past that. She has turn into a world phenomenon, adored by followers who deal with her nearly like a mythic determine, just like the best way Rei Toei is idolized in Gibson’s Bridge trilogy. Miku’s rise, pushed nearly fully by her group of customers, contrasts with Rei Toei’s fictional world, the place digital personas possess self-awareness and company. But, in a way, Miku’s recognition hints at our rising consolation with digital companions, inching nearer to the form of future Gibson envisioned. We are actually residing in a world by which the road between human and digital digital star continues to blur.
miku.earth exhibits how a digital movie star can transcend cultural boundaries and tackle a world identification. Followers from world wide have taken to drawing Hatsune Miku in their very own nationwide costumes, and this fan-driven undertaking demonstrates how Miku may be customized and reimagined by totally different communities, making her a common determine that exists within the digital ether – whereas having a really actual presence.
In 2025 the Canadian singer Grimes introduced her engagement to the digital idol Hatsune Miku … (to be continued)
Through: Webcurios
