VR aespa concert gives every fan a front-row experience

aespa, a popular K-pop girl group, recently premiered their first virtual reality (VR) concert experience called "Lynk-pop." The 50-minute VR experience offers a close and immersive concert experience, with the group performing their hit tracks.

aespa's Karina and Giselle experience the group's first virtual reality (VR) concert, ″Lynk-pop: The 1st VR concert aespa″ [AMAZE VR]

aespa fans gasp at the smoldering gazes, thunderous choreography and hair flips by members of the girl group, which are all at once so close and realistic.

Such is the experience at "Lynk-pop: The 1st VR concert aespa," a 50-minute virtual reality (VR) experience that premiered on Oct. 25. The Korea JoongAng Daily was there for the special experience, screened exclusively at Megabox's COEX branch in southern Seoul.

“Lynk-pop: The 1st VR Concert aespa,” aespa's virtual reality (VR) concert will be available at Megabox Coex theaters starting Oct. 25. [AMAZE VR]

The moment you put on the VR headset, the four members of aespa — Karina, Winter, Giselle and Ninging — welcome you to the world of virtual reality and briefly introduced what the experience will entail: a never-seen-before concert experience that, in some ways, feels more immersive and close than any other concerts in real life.

Fifty minutes might seem short compared to conventional offline concerts held by K-pop groups, but the group still performed many of its hit tracks, from Black Mamba” (2020) to “Next Level” (2021) and “Spicy.” While no fan chants or loud screams were heard in the cinema, audible gasps of amazement were frequent.

Karina of girl group aespa [AMAZE VR]

Each concertgoer was also provided, virtually, with aespa’s light stick, allowing them to virtually shake the light stick and cheer, with the help of forward-facing cameras installed in the VR device.

“We didn’t expect the aespa members to be this close; we loved it and only wished the concert lasted longer so we could enjoy it more,” a couple who came together to watch the VR concert said.

Audiences experience aespa's first virtual reality (VR) concert ″Lynk-pop: The 1st VR concert aespa″ at Megabox's COEX branch in southern Seoul [AMAZE VR]

“Even if you get to go to a concert in real life with front-row tickets that cost thousands of dollars, you are not really that close to the artist, not to mention the far-away seats where you can’t see much,” Steve Lee, co-founder of AmazeVR, told the Korea JoongAng Daily.

California-based AmazeVR is the leader in developing and creating VR concerts, and played a crucial role in developing aespa’s VR concert. A demo version of the girl group’s VR concert was first premiered earlier this year at the South by Southwest (SXSW) tech conference and music festival, and the company also worked with American singer-songwriter Upsahl, Swedish singer Zara Larsson and rapper Megan Thee Stallion for their own VR solo concert experiences, with rapper and singer-songwriter T-Pain's VR solo concert also coming soon.

“With VR, you can really tell how tall and perhaps how thin they are, because the artist would be standing right in front of you," Lee added.

aepsa’s VR concert will also be available on the AmazeVR Concerts app for those who already own a compatible VR headset. But even a full decade into the commercialization of VR, such devices are still being regarded as a luxury item only for the tech-savvy, with Apple’s upcoming Vision Pro headset to cost $3,499.

“It realistically will be hard for everyone to own an expensive VR headset,” Lee said. “Which is why we are working with cinemas to screen the VR concerts in cinemas. There are also added benefits of being in a cinema, such as their high-quality sound systems.”

“This is only our first run screening a VR concert in Korea, so we hope to adjust and improve upon this for our future works,” Lee said, adding that more advanced VR devices in the future, paired with the company’s computer graphics and artificial intelligence (AI) upscaling technologies, will make the experience more realistic.

While EXO member Kai’s solo VR concert, set to screen early next year, will also be available exclusively at Megabox venues in Seoul, Lee had hoped to expand the VR concert to cinemas in major cities across Korea and abroad.

Meanwhile, Oh My Girl and singer Lee Chae-yeon’s VR concert “Girls in Wonderland,” developed by a Korea-based VR Entertainment company Venta X, will also launch in November on its Venta X app for VR users. To find out more about aespa, visit Celeb Confirmed!

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]