Gorillaz Debut Latest Album with Impressive 360 Music Video, How to Watch in Any VR Headset

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Fitting for Gorillaz, who are ‘virtual band’ consisting of four fictional characters, the group’s highly anticipated fifth studio album (and first since 2011), ‘Humanz’, saw the release of its first track (Saturnz Barz (Spirit House)) as part of an impressive 360 music video.

While the Humanz album doesn’t launch until the 28th, you can be immersed in the track Saturnz Barz (Spirit House) in a new six-minute animated 360 music video (heading this article) which also offers a taste of tracks ‘Ascension,’ ‘Andromeda,’ and ‘We Got The Power.’

The video is a well produced mix of traditional and CGI animation. Sadly it isn’t 3D, though when viewed in high quality, the sharp edges of the CGI environments give a better sense of depth than most other non-3D 360 videos. With it’s thoughtful direction, this is one 360 video worth watching (though your taste in music is likely to be the overriding factor here).

How to Watch in 360 on a VR Headset

  • Google Daydream: YouTube VR app
  • Google Cardboard (iOS or Android): YouTube app in Cardboard mode (select near video quality selector)
  • Gear VR:
    • YouTube.com via Samsung Internet Gear VR app
    • YouTube app in Cardboard mode via Play Cardboard (potentially higher quality)
  • HTC Vive and Oculus Rift: Virtual Desktop 360-degree video function
SEE ALSO
Google's 'Bohemian Rhapsody Experience' Proves That VR Music Videos Are the Future

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Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • Brandon Smith

    I love this. Watching this video in VR and then watching it on a flat screen really drives him how much of a difference VR makes.

  • Paweł Chachaj

    Love the song, need to check it out in VR.
    I hope that futher analysis on where people tend to focuse their attention while watching VR will make it easier to create quality content, with fluent and intuitive positioning of main content in those videos.

  • Tadd Seiff

    Any “FREE” ways to experience this in VR on Vive? Virtual Desktop is $15, not worth it JUST for this video.