"Girls' Generation and Red Velvet as Avatars"... KAIST-SM Entertainment to Build 'Metaverse'

Signing of Business Agreement on the 23rd to Create a Virtual World for Avatars of SM Entertainment Artists Including Girls' Generation and Red Velvet

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) is embarking on building a 'metaverse (virtual world)' where major idol stars such as Red Velvet, Girls' Generation, and Super Junior can meet and interact with their fans.

On the afternoon of the 23rd, KAIST signed a business agreement for metaverse research with SM Entertainment, one of the major domestic entertainment agencies, at the first conference room of the Daejeon headquarters. Both parties plan to collaborate in areas such as technology related to content, artificial intelligence, robotics, joint projects on digital avatar production, and joint academic research related to Culture Technology.

In particular, through joint research with KAIST's College of Culture Technology, they will focus on researching metaverse performance technology using avatars. In other words, an online platform will be established where major idol stars under SM Entertainment can perform and hold fan meetings in a virtual world built using advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and 3D, allowing them to engage with fans.

The metaverse has emerged as the forefront of the digital era amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. The entertainment industry is also actively utilizing the metaverse as a new form of performing arts by quickly introducing non-face-to-face performances. The consumer base of the metaverse, including those in their teens and twenties, enjoys experiences from reality by transferring them into the virtual world, even when physical means such as screens, TVs, or concert halls do not exist.

Going forward, KAIST will provide advanced technologies to realistically reproduce and operate the virtual world. By integrating SM Entertainment’s producing and content planning capabilities, which have led the global Korean Wave, KAIST aims to secure a leading position in the metaverse field, considered a key growth engine of the future. This is based on the judgment that the two elements of celebrities and avatars will be core components of the future entertainment market. Through this, KAIST plans to deepen research cooperation in content, artificial intelligence, and robotics to prepare a hyper-large virtual world where multiple avatars can have enhanced abilities, form relationships, and communicate.

Lee Soo-man, the chief producer, said, "SM Entertainment, which has led the Korean entertainment industry, will be the driving force creating future content," adding, "I am confident that KAIST and SM will become first movers contributing to the future life of humanity."

KAIST President Lee Kwang-hyung expressed, "This means that SM Entertainment’s cultural imagination, which has captured the hearts of people worldwide, meets KAIST’s excellent technological capabilities," and added, "I hope this will be completed as a huge creative product contributing not only to the future entertainment market but also to the advancement of engineering technology."