A new era for K-pop arrives this week with the introduction of Aespa, a South Korean girl group made up of both human and virtual members. The outfit are K-pop company SM Entertainment’s first new all-female act since Red Velvet, who made their debut in 2014. Fittingly, the act’s name, which is stylised in lower case as æspa, is a combination of the words “avatar”, “experience” and “aspect”. SM said the group would explore the theme of “experiencing a new world via the encounter of the ‘avatar’, your other self”. aespa 에스파 ‘MY, KARINA’ #KARINA #카리나 #aespa #æspa #에스파 #MY_KARINA pic.twitter.com/A2R5CtjFUT — aespa (@aespa_official) October 28, 2020 The new group’s logo first appeared in fellow SM act SuperM’s music video for One (Monster & Infinity) in September, and Aespa launched their official Twitter account on October 25, sharing the logo and a teaser video. Winter, the first member of Aespa, was revealed through a series of promotional photos on social media the following day. Last night, member Karina was introduced appearing in a similar futuristic, wonderland-esque setting. At today’s World Cultural Industry Forum in Seoul, SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo-man said Aespa represented the launch of the SM Culture Universe (SMCU) and would feature both real-world members and digital avatars that would interact in various real-life and digital environments. According to Lee, Aespa heralded “the beginning of the future of entertainment”. “The group is what I’ve dreamed of, as it projects a future world centred on celebrities and avatars, transcending boundaries between the real and virtual worlds,” Lee said. “A whole new group with an original and inventive concept will be born.” Aespa incorporates elements of virtual idols such as Japan’s Hatsune Miku and acts such as K/DA, a K-pop girl group based in the video game League of Legends , and grafts them onto a real-life act. A video shared by SM Entertainment showed Karina interacting with her virtual counterpart, referred to as “My Karina” and “ae Karina”. Lee said the “conventional” entertainment world used artists and their music, and then expanded into various related intellectual properties (IP) and stories, but for Aespa, the IP was a foundational element of the group. Aespa’s arrival in November has been long-awaited as SM Entertainment has been without a new girl group since the introduction of Red Velvet in August 2014. The news of Aespa’s launch also comes just days after Red Velvet member Irene was accused of bullying a stylist , followed by the cancellation of at least one Red Velvet appearance. SM Entertainment has long attempted to combined technology with performance. Another SM outfit, the NCT project , stands for “Neo Culture Technology” and represents the company’s goal to create a boy band with an unlimited number of members and unit groupings who can promote across the globe.