2 weeks Ago By The Straits Times
If technology is one of the major causes of our contemporary malady of loneliness, could it also be a cure? Mr Akihiko Kondo, a Japanese school administrator, had been serially unsuccessful as a suitor. Demoralised by a string of rejections and despairing of ever having a real woman as a life-partner, he discovered romance and love with a tech-created entity. Mr Kondo first encountered Hatsune Miku – a cartoonish turquoise-haired, computer-synthesised avatar (that was projected by a holographic device) – after he fell into a deep depression from being bullied at work.
In the depths of his anguish and loneliness, he found comfort in Miku. Already a subscriber? Log in Get exclusive reports and insights with more than 500 subscriber-only articles every month $9.90 $9.
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