A comparative study of VR and tablet interactions for an immersive jazz concert with spatial audio

Immersive technologies have expanded opportunities for engaging with live music by enabling audiences to experience performances through enriched spatial, visual, and interactive modalities. This study, which was conducted "in the wild", investigates the importance of spatial audio and how it - along with other factors - influences overall Quality of Experience in an immersive jazz concert, delivered via two interaction modalities, namely a VR headset and a tablet. More concretely, ninety six (96) participants took part in a user study in which they experienced excerpts of a spatial audio-enhanced concert both via a Virtual Reality (VR) headset and a tablet, after which they were asked to fill a short questionnaire. The same concert content - a 360° video, with ambisonics-derived spatial audio, captured during a real concert for the purpose of the study - was used in both modalities. In this Work-in-Progress (WiP) paper, we focus on the qualitative insights, which emphasize the importance of spatial audio as the primary experiential driver, while identifying challenges related to overlapping sound sources and desires for greater viewpoint flexibility. The findings further reveal modality-specific trade-offs: VR affords stronger immersion, while tablets offer greater control precision and accessibility. Future immersive concert systems should therefore balance immersion with usability and support flexible interactions.

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