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Less than two months ago the new South Korean girl group MAVE: released its first music video.
不到两个月前，韩国新女子组合MAVE:发布了其第一个音乐视频。
It now has nearly 20 million views on YouTube.
目前，这个音乐视频在YouTube上有近2000万次的点击量。
At first look, MAVE: looks like any other K-pop band.
乍一看，MAVE:看起来和其他韩国流行乐队没什么两样。
But it only exists virtually.
但它只存在于虚拟世界。
Its four members - SIU, ZENA, TYRA and MARTY - live in the digital world, also called the metaverse.
它的四名成员——SIU、ZENA、TYRA和MARTY——生活在数字世界（也被称为元宇宙）中。
The group's songs, dances, talks and even their hair are created by web designers and artificial intelligence.
该组合的歌曲、舞蹈、谈话甚至她们的头发都是由网页设计师和人工智能创造的。
"When I first saw MAVE, it was a little confusing to tell whether they were humans or virtual characters," said Han Su-min, a 19-year-old in Seoul.
首尔19岁的韩素敏（音译）说：“当我第一次看到MAVE时，我有点分不清她们是真人还是虚拟人物。”
"Because I use metaverse platforms with my friends often, I feel like I could become their fan."
“因为我和我的朋友们经常使用元宇宙平台，我觉得我可能会成为她们的粉丝。”
MAVE:'s almost human-like characters provide an early look at how the metaverse is likely to look in the coming years.
MAVE:组合近似人类的人物形象让我们对元宇宙在未来几年的样子有了一个初步的了解。
It also represents a push by the technology company Kakao Corporation to become a strong force in entertainment.
这也标志着科技公司Kakao正在努力成为娱乐领域的一支强大力量。
Apart from creating MAVE:, Kakao made a $960 million offer recently to buy SM Entertainment.
除了创建MAVE:，Kakao公司最近还以9.6亿美元的价格收购SM娱乐有限公司。
SM has a record company that is home to several popular K-pop groups.
SM拥有一家唱片公司，其拥有几个韩国流行音乐组合。
Kakao has said earlier that it has invested more than $9 million in Metaverse Entertainment, a group it formed with gaming group Netmarble, to create MAVE:.
Kakao此前曾表示，它已经向元宇宙娱乐有限公司投资了900多万美元，为创建MAVE:，Kakao与游戏集团Netmarble成立了元宇宙娱乐有限公司。
The idea of a virtual band is not new in South Korea.
虚拟组合的想法在韩国并不新鲜。
In 1998, the virtual singer Adam was created.
1998年，虚拟歌手亚当诞生。
Twenty years later, there was the K-pop girl group K/DA, based on characters from the video game League of Legends.
20年后，韩国流行女子组合K/DA诞生了，其原型是电子游戏《英雄联盟》中的角色。
Neither was popular.
两者都不受欢迎。
But South Korean technology has made progress since then in creating virtual characters.
但自那以来，韩国在创造虚拟角色方面的技术取得了进步。
MAVE: is more natural-looking thanks to new tools and artificial intelligence.
由于有了新的工具和人工智能，MAVE:里的虚拟人物看起来更自然了。
Developers are able to create facial expressions and small details in things like hair, viewers say.
观众说，开发人员能够在面部表情和头发等方面做足了细节。
With the aid of an AI voice creator, its members can speak four languages - Korean, English, French and Bahasa.
在人工智能语音生成器的帮助下，其成员可以说四种语言——韩语、英语、法语和印尼语。
But they cannot speak to answer any questions.
但她们不能回答任何问题。
They must use words prepared by humans.
她们必须使用人类准备好的词语。
The group's voices in its first song "Pandora" and the dance in the music video were created by human performers.
该组合在第一首歌曲《潘多拉》中的声音和音乐视频中的舞蹈都是由人类表演者创造的。
Experts say the COVID-19 pandemic aided the growth of such virtual characters.
专家表示，新冠疫情推动了这类虚拟角色的增加。
Many K-pop companies moved online during lockdowns to keep fans happy.
许多韩国流行音乐公司在封锁期间转向网上发展，以取悦粉丝。
Lee Jong-im is a pop culture critic who teaches at Seoul National University.
李钟仁是一位流行文化评论家，他在首尔大学任教。
He said fans got used to online performances and have become more accepting of the idea that there can be both virtual and real K-pop singers.
他说，粉丝们已经习惯了在线表演，也越来越能接受既有虚拟的也有真实的韩国流行歌手的想法。
Virtual groups like MAVE: are making news for being new and different.
诸如MAVE:之类的虚拟组合因其新颖和与众不同而成为新闻。
But questions remain over whether they can be just as popular as regular bands with their large numbers of fans.
但她们是否能像拥有大量粉丝的普通组合一样受欢迎仍然是个问题。
Lee Gyu-tag is an associate professor of cultural studies at George Mason University Korea.
李圭泰是韩国乔治梅森大学文化研究专业的副教授。
He said that unless virtual groups have "unpredictability, they will become something close to video technology, not K-pop."
他说，除非虚拟组合具有“不可预测性，否则它们将会成为接近视频技术的东西，而不是韩国流行音乐。”
Yet, MAVE:'s creators and entertainment industry officials are hopeful.
然而，MAVE:的创作者和娱乐业高管对此抱有希望。
"With so many comments received from all over the world, I've realized that viewers do want something new and that they are rather open-minded," said Roh Shi-yong.
卢世勇说：“从世界各地收到的这么多评论中，我意识到观众确实想要一些新鲜的东西，而且他们的思想相当开放。”
He is the head producer of a weekly music show that showed MAVE:'s performance twice.
他是一个周播音乐类节目的首席制作人，该节目播放了两次MAVE:的表演。
"The metaverse era is coming."
“元宇宙时代即将到来。”
I'm Dan Novak.
丹·诺瓦克为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
