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By Yoon Sung-won
KT is seeking to develop its holography show business as a new earnings source.
Based on holography technology, the telecom company said it will continue to develop not only "hallyu" or Korean Wave digital entertainment content but also experiential education materials.
The company expects to create profits by selling the technology and the business model abroad.
"We expect the digital holography content market to be settled as a valuable and popular industry as a new successful new business," said KT's future convergence director Lee Mi-yeoun.
He made the remarks during a media event at the company's holography show theater "Klive" in Dongdaemun, eastern Seoul, Tuesday.
"Alongside hallyu entertainment by Korean pop singers, we have developed educational contents and cultural contents in fine arts and heritage sectors," she said.
Lee said the company is also using virtual reality (VR) technology to diversify user experiences and has partnered with other IT businesses.
"We plan to use Samsung Electronics' Gear VR head-mount display devices and Oculus VR's technologies to supplement educational content experiences," she said.
"We are also considering Microsoft's HoloLens technology to create more diversified content and user experiences in the future."
During Tuesday's event, KT unveiled a new holography show content of Korean pop singer G-Dragon.
The telecom company said it has worked with content production company Next Interactive K (NIK), a joint venture invested by KT, YG Entertainment and a local digital entertainment content developer Dstrict.
The companies previously developed other hallyu entertainment contents of Korean pop singers such as BigBang, 2NE1 and Psy.
Lee said the companies have worked with G-Dragon to prepare for the holography show content since last year and has applied latest graphic technologies including holography, three-dimensional and tele-presence screening.
"The current holography technology is based on the two-dimensional image. But we are working with partners to further develop technologies and to enable the images walk outside the stage to give more immersive experiences," Lee said. "In terms of contents, we will further roll out our holography show contents for the most popular hallyu stars and diversify genres in the future."
The Klive holograph show stage has five screens using 270 degrees, including the holography screen in the center. It has a 14.2-channel surround-sound system.
The company said the show attracted more than 60,000 visitors last year, who are mostly foreigners. It also said that governments and business from China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Colombia and Japan have shown interest in this business model.
Lee said KT will expand the holography show in the future.
"The second holography show stage is scheduled to open in Jeju Island in June," she said. "We also plan to spread the hallyu content platform in China and the Southeast Asia, where many visitors came to the Klive stage here to enjoy the show."
