Elvis Presley performs at the Milwaukee Arena in 1977. A digital version of the late cultural icon ... [+]
Add Elvis Presley to the ever-growing list of celebrities getting resurrected with the help of artificial intelligence.
An immersive experience called “Elvis Evolution” will steep viewers in the king of rock ’n’ roll’s story, culminating with a concert by a life-size digital Elvis performing his most famous songs, hip gyrations and all. The show is scheduled to launch in London in November, with Las Vegas, Berlin and Tokyo to follow.
“Through AI and groundbreaking tech you’ll be able to witness iconic Elvis performances as if you were really there, and celebrate defining moments in Elvis Presley’s extraordinary life and career,” U.K. immersive specialist Layered Reality, which is producing the show, said in a description of the upcoming experience.
That tech will include holographic projection and augmented reality. Theatrical sets and live actors will add to the Elvis extravaganza.
“You’re going to go on a journey and really understand what Elvis went through during his life,” Andrew McGuiness, CEO of Layered Reality, said in a video about the upcoming show. The journey will include stops in Tupelo, Mississippi, where Presley was born in 1935, and Graceland, his sprawling Memphis home. The concert that caps “Elvis Evolution” will be “jaw dropping,” according to the company.
“Best news ever,” one fan wrote on Instagram in response to Layered Reality’s announcement. Wrote another, “Can’t wait to see the king.”
This Monday, January 8, would have been Elvis’ 89th birthday. Though the cultural icon died in 1977, interest in his life and work have never waned. He has inspired movies, TV series, musicals and fiction and non-fiction books. In December, he landed two simultaneous hits on the Billboard charts, proving his enduring popularity, and this week, one of his oldest albums debuted on four Billboard charts. Layered Reality says it hopes bringing Elvis back from the dead will give younger fans a rare chance to “attend” an Elvis concert many years after his final performance.
Other artists brought back to life with the help of AI include legendary French chanteuse Edith Piaf. More than 60 years after her death, she will narrate Edith, a film about her life produced with AI technology trained on hundreds of voice clips and images and endorsed by the executors of her estate. An interactive AI-powered Vincent van Gogh is currently chatting with visitors to Musée D’Orsay in Paris.
But dead artists aren’t the only ones getting digital doppelgangers.
K-pop star Mark Tuan’s digital twin is never too busy to talk with fans. And after Kiss played its farewell show at New York’s Madison Square Garden in December, the band announced that it will “rock forever” as lifelike avatars that could perform for decades. “We can live on eternally,” lead vocalist Paul Stanley said at the time. “The band deserves to live on because the band is bigger than we are.”
Industrial Light & Magic, the visual effects company founded by George Lucas, created avatars that can mimic the band’s facial expressions and on-stage body movements to keep their digital doppelgangers authentic. ILM also brought to life avatars of Swedish band Abba to perform together 40 years after their final concert in 1982.
For “Elvis Evolution,” the owners of Presley’s estate granted Layered Reality access to hours of home video footage and thousands of personal photos. Here’s a handful of images to take you back to the Elvis era.
Elvis, one of the most influential pop culture figures of the 20th century, signs autographs for ... [+]
An image from the Elvis Presley archive shows the king of rock 'n' roll's athletic side.
Country music promoter Bob Neal, who managed Presley, is pictured with the star in 1955.
Presley on a movie set. The singer made his film debut in "Love Me Tender" in 1956, with many more ... [+]
