How XR Is Revolutionizing Live Concerts: Inside THE9’s Virtual Stage

XR (Extended Reality) merges VR, AR, and MR to create immersive virtual stages that blend real‑world settings with computer‑generated visuals, offering audiences a seamless mix of reality and digital effects.

Background and Motivation

During the pandemic, iQIYI observed successful virtual productions such as The Mandalorian and Disney’s Hamilton livestream, prompting the team to explore a hybrid model that could deliver both strong box‑office results and a novel viewing experience. Executives decided to invest months of development rather than a quick one‑month rollout, aiming to craft a high‑quality, immersive concert for the girl group THE9.

Technical Implementation

The concert employed iQIYI’s first film‑grade LED virtual production combined with XR technology. Two parallel pipelines—realistic XR and stylized XR—were built, each using dedicated hardware and software. Virtual camera rigs were set up across multiple virtual viewpoints, requiring precise hardware‑software coordination to render high‑fidelity scenes in real time.

To achieve realistic environments, the team researched historical references (e.g., the Egyptian Sphinx) and meticulously modeled textures, allowing viewers to feel as if they were standing in a desert beside the monument.

Creative Design

Traditional stage design offers limited post‑construction changes, whereas XR enables dynamic stage transformations that can shift from desert to rooftop to forest in sync with the music, providing limitless creative space.

Interactive Features

Beyond visual effects, the concert introduced new interactive elements: AR‑enhanced bullet comments surrounding the stage, a virtual audience seat where fans dress avatars, real‑time video calls, and fan‑driven mini‑games. Viewers could vote on games to be featured, and selected fan videos were displayed on the main screen during the performance.

One‑on‑one video link sessions allowed 300 randomly chosen fans to appear on the big screen, with six lucky participants receiving live interaction with THE9.

Challenges

Key challenges included ensuring artists could precisely align their movements with virtual LED backdrops, requiring accurate positioning and rehearsal. Additionally, the production team had to manage unprecedented technical demands, such as synchronizing multiple virtual camera angles and maintaining real‑time rendering performance.

Artists also needed to adapt to new performance requirements, collaborating closely with directors to convey their artistic vision within the virtual environments.

Future Outlook

iQIYI expects XR to become a gateway to the next generation of entertainment, offering personalized, high‑interaction experiences. As LED virtual production technology matures, hardware costs are decreasing, and more studios worldwide are adopting LED stages, the barrier to entry will lower, enabling broader application across concerts, film, and other media.

Software vendors are also developing specialized servers and tools for virtual productions, which will further diversify content formats and reduce costs.

Conclusion

The THE9 XR concert demonstrates how immersive technology can transform live entertainment, providing a template for future productions that blend high‑quality visual storytelling with interactive fan experiences.