We already knew Bill Gates was bullish about VR, but we didn’t know he was prepared to sing for it.
But that’s exactly what Gates does in a new 360 degree video found on his Gates Notes site. The legendary Microsoft co-founder and former CEO is joined by long-time friend and noted investor Warren Buffett as they explore the 2016 Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting together. In the heart-warming clip, posted in a blog in which Gates talks about his admiration for his friend, you’ll see the two drive around the venue in a golf cart, pick up snacks and even take a selfie together that was recently posted online and seen below.
Warren Buffett loves to play the ukulele. He asked me to sing along in our first #VR video: https://t.co/VZE9h0KWcu pic.twitter.com/ZsuJ6Dhxhb
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) July 6, 2016
The best part of the video, however, is when Buffett arms himself with a ukulele and begins to play ‘I’ve Been Working on the Rail Road’. Even on a 2D screen you can see Gates’ initial apprehension to join in, but he eventually gives way to his friend’s charisma and sings a few lines along with him. Now there’s something we never thought we’d see, either in or out of VR.
The video helps to cement a friendship that, as Gates explains, began just over 25 years ago now when he reluctantly agreed to meet Buffett during a visit to his mother on vacation. The two became fast friends, sharing common passions as well as business insights, and that relationship has clearly stayed strong over two and a half decades.
If you want to see the song then it starts at around 2:55 and lasts just for a precious few seconds. You can just watch it in a browser and drag your cursor around to move the view, but the best results come from finding the Gates Notes link on your smartphone and then viewing it inside a Google Cardboard headset.
Back in April we reported that Gates was interested in VR technology as a new way to educate people. He confirmed that he would be making videos himself – as evidenced above – talking about filming 360 degree footage in developing countries to help bring others closer to them than ever before.
His former company, meanwhile, might not be creating a VR headset of its own, but it is creating a console that’s powerful enough to utilise the tech.
