Virtual Tupac

Directed By: Dr. Dre

The winner of a 2012 Titanium Lion Award from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, “Virtual Tupac” represents new form of entertainment — virtual performers. The vision of Dr. Dre, “Virtual Tupac” was conceived as a way to bring fans something that was beyond the scope of imagination – an original performance of the late rap star Tupac Shakur. Working with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Philip Atwell and Dylan Brown, Digital Domain created a completely believable, computer-generated likeness of Tupac that when projected onstage, created the illusion that he was performing live alongside Snoop Dogg. The impact of the performance spread worldwide. Following the two shows at the Coachella music festival, each playing to an estimated 90,000 fans, YouTube videos of the performance amassed 15 million views. Google search results for Tupac hologram exceeded 50 million. Tupac album sales increased 500% and downloads of his song “Hail Mary” rose 1,500%. There were thousands of media stories, assessing “virtual Tupac’s” impact on everything from music to entertainment, ethics, technology and intellectual property.