New Tech 'Virtually' Enables You To Sing With Famous Musicians
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Your dreams of music stardom could be realized -- virtually, at least -- when a three-time Grammy winner comes to town next month.
Rob Thomas is inviting you on stage to sing alongside... his hologram.
"They're going to be able to come and do kind of like futuristic karaoke," he explains.
The demo video shows the Matchbox Twenty frontman's digital likeness interacting with a real-life fan.
They can pick from among three songs to perform with the superstar.
"Fans get to stand in front of our display, see their hologram live next to Rob's hologram, and sing a duet with him," says Ashley Crowder, whose company -- VNTANA -- is behind the interactive hologram technology. "They actually get a video of the experience they can post to social media afterward -- it looks like they performed on stage together."
It's part of the VIP package for Thomas' tour that hits the BB&T Pavilion in Camden on August 10th.
"It's basically the futuristic photo booth -- that's the best way to describe it," says Crowder.
She tells KYW Newsradio they're looking to put the hardware with additional holograms in other places:
"We're working with a lot of venues to try to get this more into the public. So it might not be in your home within the next year but we're looking at distributing in movie theatre lobbies and malls so the general public will have more access to this type of technology."
She's also heard from party planners behind big weddings and bar and bat mitzvahs who want it as part of their celebrations.