asepa on the Verses platform. © Image from Rock paper scissor inc. / Lee Grossman, with permission.
The music tech company Verses has launched a beat-based AI Music Video Generator Tool in the Zepeto aespa world. For this, Verses has teamed up with SM Entertainment to launch “aespa world,” an immersive experience shaped by the music of K-Pop supergroup aespa within avatar-based metaverse platform Zepeto.
Zepeto has over 400 million users, mainly from around Asia. The platform is a is a South Korean mobile chat app where users create and interact as 3D avatars in different worlds. Some of these worlds are chat-based while others are game-based, and users can decide on whether these worlds are public or for friends only.
The technology means that users can explore and engage with the title track “Drama,” manipulating the sound of the song by interacting with objects within the world. It is also possible to virtually dance with aespa members (who go under the names Winter, Karina, Giselle, and Ningning). Those who engage with the system can also make their avatars the star of an aespa music video.
The group’s name, aespa, combines the initials for “avatar” and “experience” (Avatar X Experience) with the word “aspect”, meaning “two sides”, to symbolize the idea of “meeting another self and experiencing the new world”. The group have twice released top 10 US albums.
One of the next developments in modern entertainment is to move away from being a passive recipient of content and to actually engage with the material. Artificial intelligence and virtual reality provide an opportunity for this concept to be realised.
Verses seeks to enhance the way people engage with music beyond simply listening. The 2024 CES-award-nominated “Beat-based AI music video generator” has been unveiled in January 2024.
aespa world–as well as Verses’ previous project, Hitchhiker’s Metaverse Music app–is run on the technology of Verses’ Meta Music System. This metaverse-ready music product leverages artificial intelligence to create a virtual environment where people can participate in the creative process along with the artist.
In the case of aespa world, users have the means to investigate the title track “Drama,” manipulating the sound of the song by interacting with objects within the world.
The operation has been designed to be intuitive. By simply tapping the screen to the beat, users can change the camera angle, background, and even the speed of the song. The AI generates the music and completes the video for the user to share in aespa world or on social media.
The focus, say the designers, is with self-expression and with new forms of creativity.
