Naevis
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Naevis (; stylized as nævis) is a virtual idol created by South Korean entertainment company
SM Entertainment SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1995 by Lee Soo-man. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies and has been responsible for fostering and popularizing the car ...
as part of the company's
SM Culture Universe The SM Culture Universe (SMCU) is a shared universe produced by SM Entertainment. Development By 2004, SM Entertainment had been working to produce their own culture universe. During the planning stage, Lee Soo-man thought of creating a worldview ...
. Created using
generative AI Generative artificial intelligence (Generative AI, GenAI, or GAI) is a subfield of artificial intelligence that uses generative models to produce text, images, videos, or other forms of data. These models learn the underlying patterns and str ...
, Naevis first appeared in 2020 in universe-building content for
K-pop K-pop (; an abbreviation of "Korean popular music") is a form of popular music originating in South Korea. It emerged in the 1990s as a form of youth subculture, with Korean musicians taking influence from Western Electronic dance music, danc ...
girl group
Aespa Aespa ( ; , stylized in Letter case#All lowercase, all lowercase or as æspa) is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group consists of four members: Karina (South Korean singer), Karina, Giselle (singer), Giselle, Winter ...
and their debut single "
Black Mamba The black mamba (''Dendroaspis polylepis'') is a species of highly venomous snake belonging to the family Elapidae. It is native to parts of sub-Saharan Africa. First formally species description, described by Albert Günther in 1864, it is ...
". After appearing with Aespa numerous times, Naevis's role expanded to be independent of the group in 2024 with the release of her first single "Done".


Background and development

Development on Naevis first began in 2017 as part of a
research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in some countries as OKB, experiment and design, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products. R&D constitutes the first stage ...
project at
SM Entertainment SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1995 by Lee Soo-man. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies and has been responsible for fostering and popularizing the car ...
, and was accelerated during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
as the
metaverse The metaverse is a loosely defined term referring to virtual worlds in which users represented by avatars interact, usually in 3D and focused on social and economic connection. The term ''metaverse'' originated in the 1992 science fiction ...
concept began to grow. Naevis's voice is AI synthesized, while visuals, including music videos, short-form videos, photos and merchandise, are created in partnership with
LG Uplus LG Uplus Corp. (; stylized as LG U+, ) is a South Korean mobile network operator owned by LG Corporation. It was formerly known as LG Telecom, but changed to its current name on July 1, 2010. LG Uplus is the second-largest wireless carrier in S ...
, utilizing the company's Ixi-Gen
generative AI Generative artificial intelligence (Generative AI, GenAI, or GAI) is a subfield of artificial intelligence that uses generative models to produce text, images, videos, or other forms of data. These models learn the underlying patterns and str ...
product, a small-scale language model based on LG AI Research's Exaone software. Naevis is not based on any one person, with her voice being created from a mix of samples taken from
voice actors Voice acting is the art of Acting, performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animation, animated, ...
.


Appearances


2020–2023: Establishment in Kwangya

Within the
SM Culture Universe The SM Culture Universe (SMCU) is a shared universe produced by SM Entertainment. Development By 2004, SM Entertainment had been working to produce their own culture universe. During the planning stage, Lee Soo-man thought of creating a worldview ...
, Naevis has been described as "
Aespa Aespa ( ; , stylized in Letter case#All lowercase, all lowercase or as æspa) is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group consists of four members: Karina (South Korean singer), Karina, Giselle (singer), Giselle, Winter ...
's sidekick" in Kwangya, a digital world in a parallel dimension. Naevis helps the group fight the fictional supervillain Black Mamba. Naevis was first introduced in October 2020 in a video featuring Aespa member Karina entitled ''My, Karina''. The character later appears in Aespa's music videos for " Next Level" and " Savage", both in 2021, as well as 2022's " Girls". In January 2023, SM revealed that they planned to expand Naevis's role, becoming a virtual idol releasing her own music. At the same time, it was announced that Naevis would make her musical debut as part of a
virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...
concert held at
South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...
that March, however the plans did not come to fruition. Naevis's voice was first heard on Aespa's " Welcome to My World". The song, which was originally meant to be sung solely by Naevis, was released in May 2023 as part of the group's third EP '' My World''. Naevis also appeared in the song's music video, following the group as a mysterious aura as they embark on a road trip. Naevis's solo debut was again announced by SM in August 2023, then scheduled for the first quarter of 2024.


2024–present: Expansion beyond Aespa

In June 2024, Naevis appeared as part of Aespa's Synk: Parallel Line tour. Final confirmation of Naevis's solo debut in the third quarter of 2024 came on August 8, when SM released their plans for the final two quarters of 2024. Further details came on August 21, with SM launching an official website and social media channels, as well as releasing a teaser video onto their official YouTube channel depicting rows of computer code reading "Naevis is coming to the real world", followed by a silhouette of the character. Naevis's debut single, "Done", was announced on September 3. The song, and its music video depicting Naevis entering the real world and exploring an urban setting, were released on September 10. In October 2024, Naevis acted as an ambassador for the Seoul Design Foundation's annual conference. At the event, a video of Naevis performing "Done" was exhibited, as well as an interview between the character and Seoul mayor
Oh Se-hoon Oh Se-hoon (; born 4 January 1961) is a South Korean politician and lawyer who has served as the mayor of Seoul since 2021, an office he previously held from 2006 to 2011. A member of the People Power Party, he served as a member of the Nat ...
. In SM's third quarter 2024 earnings report published in early November, the company confirmed plans to release
extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...
for Naevis in the first quarter of 2025. Plans for further appearances were announced in December, with SM and
Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC; ) is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters. Its flagship terrestrial television station MBC TV broadcasts as channel 11. MBC News Now broadcasts as channel 12. Establish ...
signing an agreement to co-develop new content for Naevis, including appearances on MBC's ''
Show! Music Core ''Show! Music Core'' (), or simply ''Music Core'' is a South Korean music television program broadcast by MBC. It airs live every Saturday at 15:30 (KST). The show features some of the latest and most popular artists who perform live on stage. I ...
''.


Reception

Naevis received a mixed reception from fans. While some found the AI generated graphics to be impressive, others found the combination of what appeared to be edited footage of a real person dancing with an AI face swapped to be unsettling. The need for SM Entertainment to launch a virtual idol in the first place was also questioned, with some stating that Naevis's AI synthesized voice sounded like a combination of
Aespa Aespa ( ; , stylized in Letter case#All lowercase, all lowercase or as æspa) is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group consists of four members: Karina (South Korean singer), Karina, Giselle (singer), Giselle, Winter ...
members, and preferring that Naevis's songs be sung by Aespa instead.


Discography


Singles


Music videos


Filmography


Music video appearances


See also

* Mave: – South Korean virtual girl group * K/DA: virtual girl group


Notes


References


External links

{{aespa Virtual influencers Fictional characters invented for recorded music Fictional singers Internet characters introduced in 2020 South Korean female idols Aespa SM Entertainment artists