Jean Michel Jarre VR Concert Brings People Together

On June 21st Jean Michel Jarre held a VR concert to send a message to the public and the entire music industry that “Whether in the real or virtual world, music and live performance have a value, the recognition and sustainability of which is vital for millions of creators.”

I wasn’t able to catch the live stream but there is a video of the nearly hour long performance available and it looks amazing. Obviously there is no interactivity or agency as it is just a video but it must have been a pretty amazing experience.

Bjork Releases Vulnicura Virtual Reality Album

Iconic Icelandic singer, Bjork, has been making music for over 30 years, and in that time has collaborated with some of the world’s best filmmakers, visual artists and programmers to push, and sometimes blur, the boundaries of art. A few days ago, Björk brought her 2015 album, Vulnicura, to virtual reality. The songs have been put to immersive VR experiences that take you into her avant-garde world and envelop you fully.

The VR album is available on Steam for many VR headsets and while I have not purchased it yet, it does look an intriguing prospect. I engaged with some of these VR experiences when I went to the Bjork Exhibition three years ago and was incredibly impressed with what I saw. Here is what I said at the time:

Stonemilker
Stonemilker places you in the 360 degree landscape of Grótta beach in Iceland. Bjork sings the song and during the course of the video multiplies, at one time there are three Bjork's singing! The detail is impressive and even though the technology showcased is quite old the effect is wonderful as you feel very close to Bjork physically as she sings and sashays to her lyrics and music. This is the closest most of us will ever get to the pioneering musician.

Mouth Mantra
Mouth Mantra is a VR video again and has the same technical set-up as for Stonemilker but is a very different experience, placing you inside Bjork’s mouth. The VR video shows very white teeth, no fillings and lots of tonsil and tongue... I was fine watching this but I can imagine some people really struggling with this.

Notget
This VR experience was the highlight of the exhibition for me. Using a real-time graphics engine the image of a glowing orange mask with decorative lines sings, as the song progresses a body starts to emerge and starts to shoot out neon sparks. It reminded me of the patterns found in a Cave bullet hell shoot'em up video game mixed with the visuals of the video game Rez and the entrancing quality of a Sharon Apple concert from Macross Plus. This VR experience shows the potential this medium can have, the music dynamically changing as you moved. This experience really immersed me and I can see the possibilities of VR concerts.

This re-release of Vulnicura has all seven tracks with full VR visuals including:

Notget

Family

Stonemilker

Lionsong

Mouth Mantra

Black Lake, and

Quicksand

At £15, this is not an impulse purchase but then again, if you’re a Bjork fan or want to see where VR could go next with its use in music videos it would be ideal. Check it out if you can as it seems like Bjork is pushing boundaries again.

LINK- Bjork Digital Exhibition at Somerset House Review

LINK- Bringing VR into the Classroom

LINK- Manga Exhibition at the British Museum

LINK: Japan: My Journey to the East

LINK- The Mysterious Cities of Gold Retro Soundtrack Review

LINK- Akira Soundtrack Vinyl Review

DIY Nintendo Labo for Switch Revealed

Nintendo has been on a bit of a roll of it lately with the Switch selling record numbers and many of its games sweeping the various Video Games Awards at the end of last year. This year it seems to be targeting the customisable creative kit market with the reveal of Nintendo Labo. The Labo involves DIY cardboard accessories that transform the Switch's Joy-Con controllers and screen into everything from a piano to a motorbike to a fishing rod. Alongside the games cartridge it offers a new way for players to interact with their games.

The kits shown so far vary in size and complexity, similar to how there are different scales of Lego sets available, but offer enough customisable options for creative types to alter, improve and even make their own designs. In the same way that many experienced VR first through Google Cardboard this could be the first full VR experience with arm and leg movement for many and all at a relatively low cost of $80! It isn't intended to be a high power solution to full body immersive VR gaming but could offer people interested in that area a taste of the possibilities at a good entry price point.

As a teacher this is really exciting as there are so many possibilities available, whether its creating new toys, robot or forming a new way to interact with games. Even more exciting is the possibility that there could be a game making tool, similar to maybe Wario Ware, to teach children to code and create interactive designs. The idea that you could create anything for the price of cardboard is exciting. With the right execution and engagement of the Etsy et al. community Labo could be something with a long term future.

Nintendo Labo is slated to be released for the Switch on April 20th and will retail for around $70. I for one am excited to see what it will do for the video game industry.

Commodore 64 VR

I've spoken enthusiastically about VR and how it was changing the future but one creative person has used VR to change the past. 64jim64 has hacked together the VR64 headset, a VR headset for the 34 year old computer. The project outputs video from the computer, and 64jim64 has created his own game with stereoscopic depth built in to show off his home designed VR headset. Check out the video below as he explains what he has created and details how he achieved those results, it's all rather fascinating stuff!

Björk Digital Exhibition

Somerset House are hosting Björk Digital, an exhibition showcasing some of the avant-garde musicians digital and video media, featuring her collaborations with some of the world’s finest visual artists and programmers. The exhibition, which runs from from 1st September - 23rd October, is a celebration of her incredible three-decade long career. The Bjork celebration will culminate with a special, one-off concert at the Royal Albert Hall on Wednesday 21st September.

The exhibition will feature virtual reality (VR) and an interactive educational area, where her innovative apps (such as Biophilia) and custom-made musical instruments will be on show. Most excitedly I am looking forward to viewing Black Lake, an immersive film featuring panoramic visuals and a bespoke, cutting edge surround-sound system. If it is anything like the other work Bjork has done I'm sure it will be exciting, intriguing and powerful. I'm hoping to see the exhibition over the Summer and will be purchasing tickets for the concert too, all of which will be shared here!