The future of VR is more than a game to developers

At the same time, during the 22nd Beijing Music Festival, the virtual reality installation show, Eight made its Asian premiere. The production had its world premiere in Amsterdam this June.

Created by the designer Theun Mosk and virtual reality company, The Virtual Dutch Men, Eight is a unique fusion of music, theater, virtual reality technology and visual art, in which audience members wear VR headsets to walk through and manipulate an installation of physical and virtual objects.

The show tells a poetic story of an old woman looking back on her life and lasts for 15 minutes, which allows one viewer member to participate at a time.

The music that plays throughout the installation has been written by Michel van der Aa, who is also the director of the show.

"When I have an idea, I think about how to get it across to an audience. Sometimes I need a string quartet. Sometimes I need a 3D video. The technology always is in service of the idea," he explained during an interview in Beijing.

"The VR technology puts an extra layer over these musical experiences, which makes sense," said Hong Lin, one of the visitors who experienced Eight.