Virtual Girlfriends Are So Hot Right Now
by Lauren Passell on July 10, 2012In the above video, augmented reality comes to life! YouTube user Alsionesvx used a motion sensor and a pair of video goggles to go on an outdoor date with the virtual popstar Hatsune Miku. But Miku is’t just a vision — she follows him around and reacts to him. And he strikes her.
Plus: Newscaster Goes On And On About This Soft Slimy “Mushroom” That’s Really Just A Sex Toy
I think this video is a bit disturbing. Not just because of the whole domestic violence thing, but because it seems like the result of extreme lonlieness. Katy Waldman on Slate points out that
digital companions like Hatsune — silent, passive creatures that follow you around and make timid fluttery signs when you beat them — play on fantasies of absolute power and control. What else do they have to offer?… I suspect it’s the consumer’s inability to distinguish between love and ownership that makes Hatsune and her ilk so popular.
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Today it’s girlfriends, but what’s next? Hackaday says this technology could also bring us historical figures as tour guides, which would be awesome. And of course, the thought on everyone’s minds is what kind of porn we can make out of this.
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