aespa is the new girl group of SM Entertainment that has a similar concept to the virtual group K/DA, and this had caused debates within K-POP fans since there is already a group that only consists of virtual members called K/DA. And it is said that SM Entertainment is taking their inspiration from the virtual group K/DA.
Digging through the history of K-POP, aespa is not the first girl group to have this kind of concept. Girls Generation of SM Entertainment, the sister girl group of aespa, has tried this concept through their "Blade and Soul" 2014 promotion in China. Here are some pictures to prove that K/DA is not the inspiration of SM Entertainment's new girl group aespa, but it was SM Entertainment who tried it FIRST.
Girls' Generation had avatars for a music video for the game 'Blade & Soul' back in 2014:
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From what I understood in aspea case avatars were suppose to be kind of part of the group, not just promotion tool like TinyTan or virtual representation like GG.