NextVR, a company focusing on live-broadcast 360 degree 3D VR video, has recently announced the first piece of content that they will publically release: Colplay’s Ghost Stories Virtual Reality Concert Experience. The company will start by releasing a VR video clip from the popular single A Sky Full of Stars which will soon be available on Samsung Gear VR, followed later by the full concert in VR.
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Coldplay is joining the ranks of Paul McCartney, Jack White, and R5 as one of the first bands to release concert footage in 360 degree format for VR, and with the help of NextVR, the band will be jamming in “broadcast-quality video.” Although the term ‘broadcast-quality’ doesn’t entail anything more than the sort of polished videos you’d expect to see on TV, we hope that the band’s VR concert (which is revealed here in exclusive photos provided by NextVR) will impress us with visual fidelity.
NextVR’s photos from A Sky Full of Stars don’t seem to reveal any outstanding stitching artifacts, but with the lights and all the confusion going on, it’s hard to tell. Supposing the photos are a screen capture taken directly from the video and not a photoshopped image from a single camera out of their array, we’re hoping that the final product presents the sort of seamless visual transitions we’ve come to expect from VR games and graphically rendered experiences.
Of course the company was predictably tight-lipped on the clip’s release date, but have confirmed that it is indeed coming to Gear VR through the yet unreleased NextVR app, which would also serve as a future platform for their catalog of VR videos including live-streamed sporting events and fashion shows.
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NextVR says they’ll follow A Sky Full Of Stars with a release of the full concert over the coming months and is talking with the band about future virtual reality collaborations.
Not a big fan? Well, me neither. But whether you love them or hate them, you have to admit that when it comes to putting on a good show, Coldplay is second to none. Ever since their 2012 Mylo Xyloto tour that saw the introduction of the Xyloband, an LED wrist band given out to spectators that lights up in unison with the song’s beat, the group has been on the cutting edge of concert-going tech. And when the crowd lights up, and the laser light show goes into overdrive, and they release their signature confetti drop, it becomes obvious that Coldplay wants their concert not only to be about the music but also as an experience in and of itself—and they want you to feel like you’re there too.
I know I’m going (if it’s free and I can be in my underwear).