The Abba star Björn Ulvaeus has said he believes avatars are the future after greeting the 1 millionth attender at the group’s hit show, Voyage.
Ulvaeus praised the technology as he greeted the guest at the purpose-built Abba Arena in east London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on Monday.
Voyage presents digital versions of Abba’s members “performing” some of their greatest hits with a 10-piece live band. The millionth visitor – 20-year-old Josie Felix – was treated to a meet and greet with Ulvaeus and described the experience as “quite extraordinary”.
The show describes itself as “blurring the lines between the physical and digital” using the “latest in motion capture technology”.
It adds: “Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid have created the kind of concert they always wanted, performing for their fans at their very best: as digital versions of themselves backed by today’s finest musicians.”
Speaking about Voyage, Ulvaeus said he believes the technology that makes the show possible offers a glimpse into the future. “Having lived with the technology and with the project for over five years it has kind of become like, well yes, that’s how the future looks, that’s what’s going to happen,” he said.
“Copies of ourselves, avatars, will go on living after we are dead, and that’s the way of the future.”
Meanwhile, he revealed that, while he was initially anxious about the show, seeing it with an audience allayed his fears. “It’s been a long project, I was nervous up until the first preview with an audience,” he said. “But then when I saw it with an audience I knew it was working.”
As for 1 million people having seen the show after 11 months, he said: “I could never have dreamt it would be a million before the end of one year. That means it’s been almost chock-a-block full every night which is fabulous.”
People with tickets for Monday were encouraged to nominate themselves or someone else to be the millionth customer, with Felix the eventual winner. She said: “I didn’t think it would happen, but it did. They said there’d be a surprise but I didn’t think it’d be this big – this is quite extraordinary.”
