An iPhone app was released in 2010 as a cure for loneliness for South Koreans, allowing users interact with a digital girlfriend named Mina.
Lonely users of the app can receive up to four video calls per day along with text messages, which used a Korean model for the face and voice of Mina. The app was downloaded over 80,000 times per day during its free launch period. The price was later set to about $1.99.
More info from The Telegraph states:
“The Honey It’s Me! application enables users to interact with the voice of a twenty-something virtual girlfriend called Mina.
The application allows singletons to receive four video calls from Mina a day as well as a shower of love messages from a selection of 100.
A Korean model posed for the video calls and recorded an array of “girlfriend” comments, which range from “Are you still sleeping? Time for breakfast!” to “Good night, sweet dreams.”
Source
South Koreans find love with ‘virtual girlfriend’ iPhone app (Danielle Demetriou, The Telegraph: December 15, 2010)
