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"In 1970 I found little difficulty staying 30 years ahead of the man in the street, and now I find it difficult to stay 18 months ahead of the man on the street."
- Vernor Vinge
 |
| Synthespian | ||
| A synthetic media personality. |
The word "synthespian" appears in Gibson's work, but was coined by Jeff Kleiser. Kleiser and Diana Walczak created the first digital actor for their 1988 short film Nestor Sextone for President.
The film Final Fantasy is almost entirely populated by digital actors, but has an astonishing realism. The liquid-metal robot for Terminator II is another example.
| "What did Blackwell mean, last night, about Rez wanting to marry a Japanese girl who isn't real?"
"Idoru," Yamazaki said... "'Idol-singer.' She is Rei Toei. She is a personality-construct, a congeries of software agents, the creation of information-designers. She is akin to what I believe they call a 'synthespian,' in Hollywood." |
| From Idoru,
by William Gibson. Published by Putnam in 1996 Additional resources -
|
See a brief excerpt of Nestor Sextone in the following video.
"Max Headroom was written and directed by Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel (now of MJZ) and they used Matt Frewer in makeup to represent a CG character. We were poking fun at them in Nestor Sextone for President: Nestor is running for president of the synthetic actors guild, and promising that humans in makeup will no longer take work away from synthetic actors." - Jeff Kleiser
This term is somehow reminiscent of Robert Heinlein, for me. It is a portmanteau word combining "synthetic" and "thespian" (actor). See Idoru for additional information.
Compare to Adam Selene from Robert Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (1966).
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Tech news articles related to Idoru
Tech news articles related to works by William Gibson
Synthespian-related
news articles:
- Emily Lifelike Animation Sets New Standard
- James Cameron's Avatar Synthespians
- Synthespian Wannabe: Tron Legacy's Jeff Bridges
- Disney Keeps Backups Of Star Wars Franchise Actors
- Xinhua AI Anchor Puts CGI Face To Automated News
| Parents Use AI To See One Last Message From Their Deceased Son |
| Feel Virtual Reality In Mid-Air! |
| Via Virtual Reality, Mother Encounters Deceased Daughter |
| BabyX AI Real Enough For You |
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'In your days they showed you a fashion-plate,' said the tailor, 'but this is our modern development.'
'If there's anything in here worth looking at, these pups'll find it.'
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