I need to know whether SM has completely given up on the concept of virtual idols and retconning their past artists to go to Kwangya.

Is SMCU and Kwangya still a thing? I know that Kwangya is a permanent thing as they renamed their SMtown store as that but is SMCU still active in the [metaverse](https://youtu.be/L4ZUk0IBjAE?si=Tx40woP2XariuByJ)?

Is any of Lee Sooman’s visions still being worked on? [Are they still developing virtual celebrities for rent?](https://youtu.be/0jyC4lqiUmg?si=KrVdr7aghw0_6fwb)

I could not support Aespa and SM during this era as the virtual reality concept goes against so many of my beliefs.

Looking at clips of aespa’s mvs available on twitter/x (cuz I refuse to stream officially) and several tweets/posts by mys and sm, it doesnt seem like aespa is doing the virtual reality concept and the other 5 virtual girls seem to be inexistent. Aespa seems to be leaning more into augmented reality and I’m not sure whether that is more or less concerning, but these girls are all adults so its not like their mental development will be severely impacted.