Unit1 Studio, led by CEO Barney Wragg, has secured significant investment to develop hyper-realistic AI avatars of deceased musicians for concert performances. The company plans to create "avatar concerts" featuring digital recreations of artists including Janis Joplin, the Beatles, and Hendrix, with AI simulating authentic human details such as tear evaporation and subcutaneous blood flow changes during performance. This expansion follows the success of projects like Abba Voyage and represents a substantial shift in how audiences might experience live music from deceased performers.

Wragg frames the technology as "time-travel tourism" offering documentary fidelity—precisely recreating historical moments rather than creative reinterpretation—though it requires permission from musicians' estates. The article questions this framing, noting that avatar concerts represent science fiction entertainment rather than genuine documentation, replacing live human performers with expensive LED displays in venues traditionally reserved for flesh-and-blood musicians. The technology faces limitations for pre-digital-era artists lacking sufficient recordings to recreate authentically.