Yes, it is an Asian concept, but so is KARAOKE. The box format has been in the US longer than you think. It's been in New York for nearly a decade, and a few cities on the west coast too. It's also been in Canada in a few cities for well over 5 years. It is called a karaoke box, and it originates in Japan or Korea. Both claim origin, but who cares. It's more than likely Japanese however. It's popularity is growing rapidly also in China, but it's fueled mostly by illegal systems that don't respect licensing and copyright laws.
A good example of a box system is described in the picture on the web page below.
http://unifykaraoke.com/english/clubcon ... _large.htm
I have found an American distributor of this system, with licensing. That said, the software is crap and I have seen much better systems in use in Japan, which is where my search is going next. Korea is another option, which produces systems of quality in between Japan and China.
So I am trying to find a relatively local and suitable system for this genre of karaoke, but it's hard and I am hoping someone here can help!