Google VR announced they have teamed up with electronic rock band LCD Soundsystem to create a new WebVR-based experience. Called Dance Tonite, it uses the band’s single ‘Tonite,” which features an old-school electronic backing and the atonal, self-described “late-era middle-aged ramblings” of frontman James Murphy. Sporting a flat-shaded polygonal look right out of an early 90s 3D video game, this VR experience takes players through a series of solid-colored rooms, populated by user-choreographed dancing objects.
Room-scale VR device owners can dance to the song and capture the movements of their own heads and hands. They can then import their dancing into Dance Tonite, with abstract shapes representing their movements. Those with a simpler VR setup, like Daydream or Cardboard, can view the experience and the “dancing” of other players. Finally, those with just a phone or PC can watch on their device without any VR component, getting a birds-eye view of the geometric dance party.
Dance Tonite is an open-source project. While not live at the time of this writing, interested developers will be able to check out the source code here, and read about the experience’s creation and lessons learned here.
