Inexplicably, the voice synthesizer program Vocaloid 2 is a massive hit in Japan. Well, it's slightly less inexplicable when we specify that the "Hatsune Miku" version of Vocaloid 2 takes music and lyrics and exports voice output that sounds like it was sung by a female idol singer. And, of course, the fake idol's picture and name grace the product's box. We're happy for the linguists who, for once, can enjoy some commercial success (assuming that Yamaha is still employing the linguists who worked on this).The YouTube video after the break contains Hatsune Miku versions of classic video game tunes. It's pretty surreal. It's all acappella, but the voice, in this case, is computer-generated!
