To watch your favorite singer perform as a life-sized hologram in your living room

Holographic Performances

You’ve chosen to imagine your favorite artist appearing life-sized right in your living room. You might want to learn more about digital and holographic performances, which use projected images, reflections, screens, and other visual technologies to make performers seem present. Just don’t try to give your favorite artist a hug; you may crash into your living room wall!

Fun Facts:

In 1862, John Henry Pepper amazed theater crowds with a reflection trick that made “ghosts” appear onstage.
At Coachella in 2012, a digital Tupac Shakur appeared to perform onstage using a modern version of that old illusion.
ABBA Voyage in London uses digital versions of ABBA alongside a real, live 10-person band.

Holographic Performances

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This scenario explores holographic performances, which use technologies such as screens, projections, reflections, computer-generated images, and motion capture to make performers seem present in a physical space. Reflection illusions have amazed theater audiences since the 1860s, and modern productions can place digital performers onstage beside live musicians. Future systems could bring similar experiences into homes, but they would also raise questions about who may create, control, or profit from an artist’s digital likeness. And don’t try to give your favorite artist a hug; you may crash into your living room wall!

Fun Facts:

John Henry Pepper demonstrated his famous “ghost” illusion in London in 1862. Angled glass reflected an actor so the person seemed to appear like a ghost.
At the 2006 Grammy Awards, Madonna performed alongside projected members of the animated band Gorillaz using a modern version of the Pepper’s Ghost effect.
In 2012, a digital Tupac Shakur appeared onstage at Coachella. The famous “hologram” was actually a flat digital image reflected onto a special screen.
ABBA Voyage opened in London in 2022 with digital versions of the four ABBA members. A real 10-person band performs live beside them.
Many concert effects called holograms actually use reflections or projections. True holography records light in a different way.

Discussion Question:

If someone makes a digital version of a performer, who should decide what it can do?

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Physical Build:

You can design a tiny hologram concert stage using cardboard, clear plastic, paper, and art supplies. Create a performer, stage, and audience, then experiment with clear plastic to see how reflections can make images appear in surprising places. Change your design until your performer gets the best “stage entrance.”

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Digital Build:

With an adult, ask ChatGPT:

“Design a hologram concert that could happen in my living room.”

Choose your favorite idea, then draw the stage and decide where the digital performer, audience, speakers, and lights would go.

or wear a VR headset that puts you in the front row of your favorite artist's concert?

VR Front Row

Immersive Concerts

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You’ve chosen to imagine putting on a VR headset and suddenly standing front row at your favorite artist’s concert. You might want to learn more about immersive concerts, which use virtual reality, spatial sound, and specially positioned cameras to make faraway performances feel close. Just remember to take off your headset if you need to use the bathroom in the middle of the concert!

Fun Facts:

Apple created an immersive Alicia Keys rehearsal that lets headset viewers feel like they are standing close to Keys and her band.
In 2024, Sabrina Carpenter performed in a 45-minute concert made especially for Meta’s virtual reality world.
Long before VR headsets, panoramic paintings surrounded viewers with giant scenes to make them feel somewhere else—an early step toward immersive media.

Immersive Concerts

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This scenario explores immersive concerts. A VR headset can surround us with a computer-generated environment or immersive video recorded with special cameras. Spatial audio can also make sounds seem to come from different locations around us. Artists are already creating performances specifically for headsets, and future concerts might let viewers choose among several extraordinary viewpoints. Just remember to take off your headset if you need to use the bathroom in the middle of the concert!

Fun Facts:

Huge panoramic paintings became popular in Europe during the late 1700s. Visitors stood surrounded by painted scenes instead of looking at one framed picture.
Apple filmed Alicia Keys: Rehearsal Room for its Vision Pro headset. Viewers can experience an intimate performance with Keys and her band.
Sabrina Carpenter’s 2024 Meta Horizon Worlds concert was filmed specifically for virtual reality and lasted about 45 minutes.
Apple’s immersive concert experiences can place viewers near performers in ways ordinary arena seats cannot. One BBC Proms experience puts viewers close to the pianist’s hands inside London’s Royal Albert Hall.
Filipino American choral ensemble LALÒ created an immersive concert experience using spatial audio and 180-degree and 360-degree video for headsets such as Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest.

Discussion Question:

If anyone could get a virtual front-row seat, how might that change who gets to experience concerts?

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Physical Build:

You can invent your own VR concert viewer using a small cardboard box, paper, tape, and markers. Cut a viewing window, then design interchangeable concert scenes that slide inside. Test different views—front row, beside the drummer, or even above the stage—and decide which makes you feel most involved.

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Digital Build:

With an adult, ask ChatGPT:

“Imagine five places I could stand during a future VR concert.”

Pick your favorite viewpoint and draw what you would see, hear, and notice from there. Then invent another viewpoint no real concert ticket could offer.