Bon Jovi and Virtual Reality

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/n...t-vr/91225372/

I've been a Virtual Reality user now for approaching two years as an early adopter of Samsung's Gear VR. From the outset, it came with a sample of Next VR capturing a Cold Play performance, instantly convincing me as to the very near future reality of these broadcasts. I never got into Cold Play, but being in the front row watching the band play live and looking to my sides to see the others in attendance getting into it just sucked me in.

Currently, Joan Jett has a VR app that is rather basic, yet immersive. It features 4 recently filmed songs in VR that position you right on stage in front of Joan. You have to download them, but while you are in the virtual waiting room, there is a TV set playing old Joan Jett videos to keep you occupied. I'm not even a fan of the band, but it was pretty damn cool all around and a preview for what is to come in music multimedia that revitalizes the industry.

Muse also released their music video for Revolt in VR.

Bon Jovi is not mentioned or confirmed, but chances are highly likely they are one of the 10. The sports broadcasts by Next VR have been impressive. After you settle in, it is easy to forget you are not actually there. You invest emotionally as if you are there in person.

Playstation VR hits next month and is well worth pursuing for content like this alone. Gear VR is for any Galaxy smartphone owner with the Note 4 and up. The advantage is no wires and affordability. The disadvantage is overheating is possible, which forces removing the headset. That will not occur with Playstation.

Link to a short sample of the Cold Play clip.

https://youtu.be/hdo6jqFDMQw

Hopefully, I am correct on Bon Jovi being part of this with more to come. I'd like to see a couple of their shows documented in VR before they call it a day as these will be the only shows that you will literally be able to relive as if you are going back in time to a concert in-person. I can't imagine no one else hasn't dreamed of being able to do exactly this, though I can guess that few believe we can actually do this now.

This is our very near future, like it or not, and will be replacing our TVs (as VR can produce any type of display you wish to watch flat screen content on...I've watched Live In London on an Imax-sized screen in VR, which is literally exactly like being in a movie theater, but with empty seats other than the one you are sitting in.)

https://youtu.be/dEMoCBN1OsM

This is a link to a sample of the Joan Jett VR app I mentioned above. Please excuse the freezing and stuttering as it is a result of attempting to capture video while running a high demand process and audio is automatically disabled by the software. Keep in mind that you are only seeing a scaled down portion of what VR users see and that it is 3 Dimensional. You are seeing what I am looking at in VR. You really do feel like you are standing up on that stage in front of that audience right in front of Joan.

I read about it few years ago. It sounds really exciting. I hope Bon Jovi will record one of the future shows with that technology. They always want to keep up with technological innovations. Webcast in 2000, first concert screened live in cinemas in 2002, 3D music video in 2010 are just a few examples.

Would love to see it happen. Even something like Google Cardboard is pretty fun and I'd love to see an immerse Bon Jovi concert like that.

My thoughts, exactly. VR is the new "HD," more or less, so I expect that they will jump on it. It is an awesome way to reach a new audience and gain new fans.

While Google Cardboard was a cheap way to introduce the idea of VR to people, thankfully they are moving on from it to Daydream, which Google should be announcing more details on in a few days. It created the notion of VR as a novelty and lead to expecting Gear VR as nothing more than an expensive Google Cardboard headset. So you had those that tried Gear VR anyway and were blown away by the difference (and wound up dumping their iPhone for a Galaxy to get it,) but then you had those that shut it out because they assumed it was the same thing.

Right now, NextVR is only available on Gear VR, but I expect they will roll out an app for PlayStation as well as Vive and Oculus. If you can get access to them, they do have highlights posted from various past streams so you can experience their quality. Unfortunately, they don't tend to keep these broadcasts for on-demand.