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Go behind the scenes of Sensorium with David Guetta

Sensorium Galaxy, a new VR ‘social metaspace’ in which users can attend alternative-world concerts, nightclubs and festivals through a VR headset or streaming, has shared behind-the-scenes footage documenting the making of David Guetta’s avatar.

Last autumn, Guetta revealed a partnership with Sensorium Cooperation that will see him create a series of exclusive performances in the metaspace, which is set to launch in Q2.

Guetta will appear as virtual representation for his exclusive performances in Prism – a ‘content hub’ in the Galaxy dedicated to music concerts and festivals, which is being developed in partnership with Yann Pissenem, CEO and founder of The Night League and creator of nightclubs Hï Ibiza and Ushuaïa Ibiza.

The company has now shared a behind-the-scenes video offering a glimpse into “the crazy experience” of developing Guetta’s avatar, capturing his facial expressions and mapping his signature moves and DJing techniques using cutting edge technology.

Since its foundation, Sensorium Corporation has raised over $100 million in private investments

The Grammy award-winning DJ and producer was the first artist announced to join the platform, followed by contemporaries Carl Cox, Armin van Buuren and Black Coffee among others.

Since its foundation, Sensorium Corporation has raised over $100 million in private investments, making it ‘one of the world’s best-funded startups in the VR space’, according to the company.

Among its backers are Forbes-listed billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov and Jay-Z’s streaming service Tidal, which spent US$7 million on tokens issued by the platform’s company, acquiring access to broadcast its content within the platform.

Sensorium has also announced the closed beta trial which will allow selected users to access the platform and explore the worlds of Prism and Motion, an underwater world dedicated to mindfulness. Applications for beta-testers will open next week.

Alongside preparing for his Sensorium debut, Guetta has been busy with his lockdown livestream series, United at Home, which has raised more than US$2 million for charity to date. Read more about the success of the spectacular charity concerts here.


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Tidal-backed VR platform enlists renowned DJs

Carl Cox and David Guetta are the first artists announced to perform in the Sensorium Galaxy, a new VR “social metaspace” in which users can attend alternative-world concerts, nightclubs and festivals through a VR headset or streaming.

Sensorium Galaxy, which is due to launch publicly in early 2021, has already been backed by Jay-Z’s streaming service Tidal, which spent US$7 million on tokens issued by the platform’s company, acquiring access to broadcast its content within the platform.

Grammy award-winning DJ and producer David Guetta was the first artist announced to “join” the platform – which is also backed by Forbes-listed billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov – followed shortly by Carl Cox.

Each DJ will appear as virtual representations for their exclusive performances in Prism, a content hub in the Galaxy dedicated to music concerts and festivals, which is being developed in partnership with Yann Pissenem, CEO and founder of The Night League and creator of nightclubs Hï Ibiza and Ushuaïa Ibiza.

“Having David come on board as the first DJ to join Prism World is sending a clear message: VR is the future of social networking and content distribution,” says Pissenem.

“David and I have been working together for more than two decades now. He is a genius that has always been ahead of the curve with music and understands the vision of what we will deliver with Sensorium Galaxy.

“VR tech allows us to transcend the physical world and create unprecedented shows that will revolutionise the industry”

“Working with VR technology allows us to transcend the limits of the physical world and create unprecedented shows that will revolutionise the industry. It is going to be like nothing that has ever come before.”

Since its foundation, Sensorium Corporation has raised over $100 million in private investments, making it one of the world’s best-funded startups in the VR space.

Artist-backed Tidal has been making plays elsewhere in the VR market too, recently partnering with Facebook’s platform Occulus.

The partnership will spawn a series of intimate live performances from ‘the biggest names in music’ that can be streamed in virtual reality on the Venues app (available on the Oculus Quest) and in 2D video and high-quality audio on Tidal, later this year.

Facebook launched the Venues app, described as “the companion app to live events,” in June this year.

 


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Major streaming services to branch into virtual events

Spotify is developing a feature that will alert fans to an artist’s upcoming virtual events, according to a tweet by reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong.

The streaming service ordinarily lists an artist’s live events on their profile page, but according to Wong (via TechCrunch), it is now transforming that feature into virtual events discovery.

The platform already works with ticketing partners including Ticketmaster, Songkick, Resident Advisor, Eventbrite, AXS and Japan’s eplus, and therefore virtual event listings wouldn’t be difficult to implement.

The feature isn’t yet available in the public-facing version of the Spotify app.

Elsewhere, Jay-Z’s streaming service Tidal has spent US$7 million on tokens issued by the company behind Sensorium Galaxy, a new VR “social metaspace” in which users can attend alternative-world concerts, nightclubs and festivals through a VR headset.

Through the purchase, Tidal has acquired access to broadcast their content within Sensorium Galaxy, which is due to launch publicly in early 2021.

Sensorium says that its “Social VR technology” is poised to “provide unprecedented ways for artists”

Lior Tibon, COO of Tidal, says: “Our relationship with Sensorium provides Tidal with the opportunity to gain exclusive rights for its stellar artist roster to have their shows and music broadcast exclusively within Sensorium’s themed virtual entertainment worlds.

“The Sensorium Galaxy is a next-generation platform for entertainment consumption which will elevate the connection fans have with their favourite artists, and bring artists’ vision to life in a new and exciting way.”

Sensorium says that its “social VR technology” is poised to “provide unprecedented ways for artists, performance venues, game publishers, and virtual influencers to entertain and engage fans globally across interactive environments”.

Alongside Jay-Z, Tidal’s artist co-owners include Lil Wayne, Rihanna, Calvin Harris, Daft Punk and Coldplay’s Chris Martin.

Earlier this week, it was announced earlier this week that streaming service Napster will be acquired by live music virtual reality platform MelodyVR.

The US$70 million acquisition will eventually combine Napster’s library of over 90 million audio tracks and Melody VR’s catalogue of virtual live music shows, to create a platform where users can stream music and experience immersive live performances.

 


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