Russian Tech Takes the Stage: Digital Avatars Bring Legends Back to Life
At Moscow’s Live Arena, a new kind of concert premiered — 'Vysotsky. The Height.' In this groundbreaking performance, digital avatars of Vladimir Vysotsky, Polina Gagarina, Sergey Shnurov, Grigory Leps, and Leonid Agutin appeared on stage alongside a live orchestra, merging art and technology in an unprecedented way.
Render Farms and Revolutionary Algorithms
The show, developed by the Russian company Digital Legends, represents a leap forward in immersive entertainment.
Their engineers and artists built a digital version of legendary singer-songwriter Vladimir Vysotsky from archival footage, aided by actor Sergey Bezrukov, who had previously portrayed Vysotsky in the film 'Vysotsky. Thank You for Being Alive.' Using photogrammetry, thousands of images, and months of painstaking manual refinement, the team reconstructed Vysotsky’s facial expressions, gestures, and even vocal intonations. “We processed terabytes of archival material and created unique algorithms for speech and motion synthesis,” explained Alexander Mamonov, CEO of Digital Legends.
“The technical backbone of the project was massive render farms working in real time for months to recreate the Vysotsky audiences remember.”
Director Alena Manchenko emphasized that the production deliberately avoided using generative AI. “There’s no artificial intelligence in the show — the process is far more intricate,” she noted. “Each performer’s facial expressions and body movements were captured through sensors, then a large team of specialists built the avatar’s skeleton, skin, and eyes from scratch.”
A Unique Concept, Executed Flawlessly
This fusion of live music and digital avatars marks a technological breakthrough unprecedented in global performance art. While Industrial Light & Magic used motion capture to recreate ABBA for their 2022 show 'ABBA Voyage,' the Russian team tackled a far more complex challenge — creating a photorealistic avatar of a person no longer alive.
Digital Legends combined precise modeling with emotional authenticity, crafting not just a likeness but a living digital presence.
The show’s concept — pairing iconic digital performers with a live orchestra — offers a new way to reinterpret Vysotsky’s cultural legacy and bridges the gap between nostalgia and innovation.
Digital Doubles and a Billion-Viewer Future
‘Vysotsky. The Height’ demonstrates how traditional culture and digital technology can converge to create entirely new art forms. It’s a sign that technology is no longer just a tool for production — it’s becoming a co-creator in storytelling and performance.
Industry experts predict that in the coming years, digital avatars will increasingly populate stages, screens, and virtual spaces across Russia, expanding creative possibilities and audience reach.
Digital doubles could soon become licensed entities, interacting directly with fans or even performing new works after an artist’s lifetime — blurring the lines between reality and virtual artistry.
