Tosh Zhang and Wang Weiliang Experience Singapore’s 1st LIVE Concert Shot in 360 Virtual Reality

What is it like to watch a LIVE 360 virtual reality concert?

Earlier today, I got to experience Singapore’s 1st live concert shot in 360 virtual reality at Suntec City, West Atrium.

Present by Starhub together with mm2, the  360 virtual reality concert is FREE and showcased some of Asia’s hottest singing sensations, including Taiwanese singers Huang Pin Yuan 黄品源, Dennis Sun孙自佑 and Singaporeans Hear Me Sing winner Jean Goh 吴思佳, Director Jack Neo 梁志强 and Ah Boys To Men’s Tosh Zhang 张志扬, Wang Weiliang 王伟良 and Jaspers Lai 赖宇涵.

The actual concert was a private concert during mm2’s Annual General Meeting, exclusive to the group’s shareholders and guests. Thanks to live virtual reality streaming technology and Starhub, the public got to catch the simultaneous screening, live from Marina Bay Sands Grand Theatre to Suntec City.

This was the first time I caught a live 360 concert and the experience was pretty unique. I would say just about all the attendees at the event were drawn there out of curiosity to keep at the forefront of entertainment technology.

Tosh Zhang and Wang Weiling swung by Suntec City after wrapping their performances at Marina Bay Sands. They watched the remainder of the concert using the 360 virtual reality glasses provided. Check out their candid responses on the experience:

For the fans, I managed to get several good shots of the duo as they posed for the media and exchanged jokes:

@toshrock and @reallobang out the #360liveeconcert at a StarHub event now at Suntec City, West Atrium Level 1. Come join in the fun! The concert is FREE!

A photo posted by Alvinology.com (@alvinology) on Jul 20, 2016 at 7:02am PDT

My own experience pretty much matches with the duo. The technology is interesting and has potential to power more dynamic live entertainment in the future. The quality of the concert video stream is not 4k standard, but acceptable, given that it was streamed live and in 360 virtual reality. Kudos to Starhub for taking the bold move to experiment with technology.

I spoke to an 18-year-old fan of Tosh Zhang, Jessica Lee, at the event. She was there to support the local star and managed to get a selfie with him.

“The 360 virtual reality concert gives an almost real concert experience, as if you are in the concert itself. It shows how technology has evolved, allowing us to catch a concert even if we are not physically there. There is a little lag with the stream, but still acceptable, given it is live.” Lee shared.

Somehow, I was hoping a Pokemon would pop out when I put on the 360 virtual reality glasses. No thanks to the current global Pokemon Go craze. Catching Pokemons in 360 virtual reality instead of just augmented reality? How cool that would be right?

Maybe Starhub might just be exploring this for their next 360 virtual reality project. 🙂