Visionary ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney is one of the first artists to embrace the possibilities offered by virtual reality, launching his “Live and Let Die” concert as a 360 degree Google Cardboard virtual reality app for free, The Guardian reports. The app can be downloaded free of charge from the Google Play Store, while the Cardboard “hardware” can be made at home, simply and easily, following the instructions here.
The free app offers its users the chance to experience the live performance of Sir Paul McCartney’s Live and Let Die from the front of the stage, right next to the piano. Viewers can look around on the stage, see the artist himself and the band perform, see the crowds cheer and the stage performance with 3D sound changing depending on the point of view chosen by the user. The app offers an almost unique experience (almost, as there have been a few other artists to embrace the technology).
The app was produced by Jaunt, a virtual reality content company based in California. The company also produces content for the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, and has former employees of Google, Flipboard on its team, along with engineers trained at Caltech and Stanford. The app offers a never before seen reproduction of the pyrotechnic-filled concert, with 360 degree stereoscopic 3D visuals, ambisonic audio and immersive cinematic virtual reality. According to Jaunt’s co-founder and CEO Jens Christensen, it’s like nothing you have seen, heard or felt before. The app is free, and requires Android 4.3 or above and a 5″ or 6″ screen size to run.
Sir Paul McCartney is not the first artist to have one of his performances remade as a virtual reality experience. Beck’s Hello Again concert was turned into a non-3D interactive web experience and a stereoscopic performance for Oculus Rift, and The Who is also preparing the release of a new compilation album as a 3D virtual experience in collaboration with Immersive.