G-Dragon's music, iris image beamed into space by South Korean scientists
South Korean scientists have launched the music and an image of the iris of K-pop star G-Dragon into space in a groundbreaking collaborative media artwork blending art, science and technology.
The Space Institute of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said Thursday that the world's first "space sound transmission" was successfully conducted a day earlier by Lee Jin-joon, a contemporary artist and associate professor at KAIST, in collaboration with G-Dragon.
Part of KAIST's AI Enter-Tech initiative with G-Dragon's agency, Galaxy Corporation -- an artificial intelligence metaverse company -- the project aimed to send a musical message from the artist into outer space, according to the institute.
G-Dragon also serves as a visiting professor in KAIST's mechanical engineering department.
Lee used generative AI technology to create a media art piece titled "Iris," based on an image of the singer-rapper's eye. The audio component included sound from the Emile Bell, a historic Korean bronze bell over a thousand years old, along with G-Dragon's recent hit "Home Sweet Home."
The combined audio was uploaded and transmitted via an antenna aboard a next-generation satellite launched in May 2023 on the Nuri rocket. Simultaneously, the iris image was projected onto a 13-meter space antenna using projection mapping, a technique that overlays video onto physical surfaces to create dynamic visual effects.
"The iris is a symbol reflecting inner emotions and identity, often referred to as the 'mirror of the soul.' Through this work, I aimed to depict the 'infinite universe seen through the inner self of humanity' by following G-Dragon's perspective," Lee said of the media artwork.
G-Dragon said he was both thrilled and surprised by the project.
"It's already amazing that the world can share music through the advancement of science, but the fact that one of my cherished songs is being sent into space still feels surreal," he said. "I'm very thrilled, and I hope (my song) has 'found its home properly.'" (Yonhap)
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