The first concert is today, in about 2.5 hours from this post!
Oculus has announced the launch of a new virtual reality concert experience called Oculus Venues, kicking off with a performance by Vance Joy at 7:30 p.m. PST on Wednesday (May 30) broadcast live from Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
Community moderators will be on-hand at all times during Venues events, ensuring that users can block, mute or report others who are hindering their experience or violating the Oculus Code of Conduct.
Current Schedule:
May 30 - Vance Joy - 7:30 pm PT May 31 - Gotham Comedy Live - 7:00 pm PT June 4 - School Night! Live from Hollywood - 8:00 pm PT June 6 - MLB: Arizona Diamondbacks @ San Francisco Giants - 12:45 pm PT June 7 - Gotham Comedy Live - 7:00 pm PT June 9 - Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats and The Head And The Heart - 3:55 pm PT June 11 - School Night! Live from Hollywood - 8:00 pm PT June 13 - MLB: Los Angeles Angels @ Seattle Mariners - 1:10 pm PT June 14 - Gotham Comedy Live - 7:00 pm PT June 15 - Chromeo - 6:50 pm PT June 18 - School Night! Live from Hollywood - 8:00 pm PT June 20 - MLB: Atlanta Braves @ Toronto Blue Jays - 9:37 am PT June 21 - Gotham Comedy Live - 7:00 pm PT June 22 - Everclear - 10:00 pm PT June 25 - School Night! Live from Hollywood - 8:00 pm PT June 27 - MLB: Kansas City Royals @ Milwaukee Brewers - 11:10 am PT June 28 - Gotham Comedy Live - 7:00 pm PT July 2 - School Night! Live from Hollywood - 8:00 pm PT July 5 - Gotham Comedy Live - 7:00 pm PT July 9 - School Night! Live from Hollywood - 8:00 pm PT July 12 - Gotham Comedy Live - 7:00 pm PT July 16 - School Night! Live from Hollywood - 8:00 pm PT July 19 - Gotham Comedy Live - 7:00 pm PT July 23 - School Night! Live from Hollywood - 8:00 pm PT July 25 - International Champions Cup: Manchester United v AC Milan - 8:00 pm PT July 26 - Gotham Comedy Live - 7:00 pm PT July 28 - International Champions Cup: FC Barcelona v Tottenham Hotspur - 8:00 pm PT July 30 - School Night! Live from Hollywood - 8:00 pm PT Aug. 2 - Gotham Comedy Live - 7:00 pm PT Aug. 3 - Lionsgate Presents: Reservoir Dogs - 7:00 pm PT Aug. 5 - Lionsgate Presents: Sinister - 7:00 pm PT Aug. 6 - School Night! Live from Hollywood - 8:00 pm PT Aug. 9 - Gotham Comedy Live - 7:00 pm PT Aug. 13 - School Night! Live from Hollywood - 8:00 pm PT Aug. 19 - Lionsgate Presents: Apocalypse Now - 7:00 pm PT Aug. 20 - School Night! Live from Hollywood - 8:00 pm PT Aug. 26 - Lionsgate Presents: National Lampoon’s Van Wilder - 7:00 pm PT Aug. 27 - School Night! Live from Hollywood - 8:00 pm PT
The technology here is rather exciting. For those that didn't attend, here is the overview:
There are about 5 camera's: One behind the singer, between the drummer and pianist; Two on the front-left (one close, one far); Twp on the front-right (one close, one far).
The VR Attendee will automatically switch between all 5 cameras. Currently we don't have control, the camera angle switch happens automatically.
The image quality began pixelated (for me) for the first 3-4 songs, but it's been impressively sharp/crisp thereafter.
This is what I would call "true Mixed Reality." You are being live streamed to a 360 event. However, you are sitting in a Virtual Seat (software) while the live camera feed is in front of you. It's not a flat image though, it's a 360 image that has a virtual seating arrangement embedded. It's like being at a real concert, but when you look left/right you see your virtual seating area instead of a physical one.
The VR Attendee can see other VR Avatars in their seats around you! You can talk to folks during the event.
The VR Attendee can choose a "private seat." You end up in a VR Seat high above the rest of the VR Attendees (the VR crowd). This is great if you want a private viewing experience without hearing everyone else speak.
You can create a Facebook Account that uses a fake name, just try to make it a variation of your real name because Facebook's A.I. will auto-delete the account (they did that to me when I tried to make a sneaky Skeletor account once).
That was a solid 1.5 hours of streaming with GO, starting at a full charge. It just now warned of low battery. So it can successfully stream 1.5 hours of 360 video/audio. Not too shabby.
Anybody know if this will come to the Rift? I don't have any of the mobile VR devices but would quite like to try this - although my broadband is pretty slow.
Couldn't find anything definitive online about the Rift.
Oculus Venues is built in conjunction with NextVR, who does tend to create cross-platform experiences for more than just mobile (e.g. HTC Vive). Nothing is confirmed yet with the Oculus Venues project, but I wouldn't be surprised to see this on the Rift library by the end of 2018.
Although, the video quality is probably going to be much better on a GO or newer GearVR than on either a Vive or Rift.
I get that the Go is optically superior to the Rift, but as a Rift owner, if feel let down by oculus/Facebook, not allowing me the opportunity to experience these events, even if slightly less visually appealing!
The Rift is still a very capable headset and it it cutting their user base off, or maybe that is a technical reason so as to not "swamp" the streaming servers?
Having spent close to £2,000 on my Rift setup only 8 month ago, having to justify to the missus why I want to spend another £250 to watch events, that technically I could watch in my Rift is a tall order 🙂