Elvis show to debut in London featuring AI-generated life-size projection of iconic artist
Elvis Presley, American rock ‘n’ roll legend.
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A live show featuring a life-size digitally recreated avatar of Elvis Presley is set to debut in London later this year, before moving to Las Vegas, Tokyo and Berlin.
U.K. firm Layered Reality said attendees will go on a “journey” through the artist’s life, culminating in a “concert experience.” It will use a mix of artificial intelligence and augmented reality, which blends computer-generated imagery with the real world, as well as “theatre, projection and multi-sensory effects.”
The show gained the rights to the project and will utilize thousands of Presley’s personal photos and video footage, according to BBC.
It comes after the four members of Swedish supergroup ABBA recently employed augmented reality and real-time visual effects to debut a successful concert experience that is still running in London.
Created by the London branch of Industrial Light & Magic, the visual effects company founded by George Lucas, digital life-size avatars of the band perform songs accompanied by a live band and a huge lighting display in a 3,000-seat arena.
ABBA Voyage producer Svana Gisla told a U.K. government committee session in November 2022: “We have live musicians, so we keep our band and do seven shows over five days a week. But you could roll round the clock. Vegas will quickly adopt this style of entertainment and do Elvis or the Beatles.”
She also noted the progress of the technology raised questions over recreating artists after their death.
“Posthumously you can put artists back on stage, ethically you may or may not have a view on that,” she said. “Having ABBA partake in this, I can say this is an ABBA concert. ABBA made the decisions, chose what to wear, chose their set list — ABBA made this show.”
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