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"It's hard to tell stories about critters that are not human. John W. Campbell tried it, in "Twilight," and everybody says it's a wonderful story, and nobody ever reads it twice."
- Jerry Pournelle

Idoru  
  A virtual person like a video game character; an entity given specific characteristics, existing only in computer networks.  

Idoru is a wonderful novel; I don't want to spoil the story for anyone, because the book is well worth reading. But the idea is one that we will certainly see more of.

"What did Blackwell mean, last night, about Rez wanting to marry a Japanese girl who isn't real?"

"Idoru," Yamazaki said. "'Idol-singer'. She is Tei Toei. She is a personality-construct, a congeries of software agents, the creation of information-designers. She is akin to what I believe they call a 'synthespian', in Hollywood."

Technovelgy from Idoru, by William Gibson.
Published by Putnam in 1996
Additional resources -

Tei Toei is fictional character modeled on a "real" computer generated person named Kyoko Date. Kyoko Date was created by Visual Science Laboratory (VSL) of Japan in 1996, a computer graphics software company that worked on video games like Xtreme Beach Volleyball. See Kyoto Date for more information about her.

In America, Lara Croft (of Tomb Raider video game fame) is our own personality-construct. She has, of course, inspired a live action movie series, starring Angelina Jolie as the idoru. See the entry for synthespian for more information.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Idoru
  More Ideas and Technology by William Gibson
  Tech news articles related to Idoru
  Tech news articles related to works by William Gibson

Idoru-related news articles:
  - Virtual Girlfriends Updated
  - Webkare - Virtual Boyfriends
  - Love Plus Dating Sim Requires Kissing
  - Virtual Star Hatsune Miku In 3D Hologram Concert Video
  - Is Aimi Eguchi Real or Virtual? Updated!
  - Gatebox Virtual Girlfriend Perfect For Budding Salaryman
  - Man's Marriage To Hologram Ruined By Software Glitch

Articles related to Virtual Person
Metaverse Hardware - Run And Flail Like A Maniac, Or Lie Quietly?
Virtual Co-Embodyment - Two People Control One Virtual Body
Sorry, Futurists! Tamagotchi Kids, Virtual Children Already Predicted By SF Writer in 2008
Man's Marriage To Hologram Ruined By Software Glitch

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