Leading VR broadcasting company NextVR is partnering with Oculus so you can connect with friends and watch a live event together in VR.
The highly anticipated feature (who wants to go to a concert or comedy club alone in VR?) will be available in some NextVR broadcasts through Oculus Venues — a new app for Oculus Go and Gear VR. The partnership covers broadcasts of standup comedy live from Gotham Comedy Club, performances by “up-and-coming bands” from School Nightlive in Hollywood, and an International Champions Cup soccer match.
NextVR offers its own app as well with a larger slate of stereoscopic 3D broadcasts — in particular many NBA games are broadcast by the startup. According to NextVR, some of the broadcasts made available through Venues might be in 2D. At CES earlier this year NextVR previewed higher resolution broadcasts ideal for headsets like Vive Pro and Samsung Odyssey. Like Facebook, NextVR is also working on technology to capture reality with six degrees of freedom, though it is unclear how long we’ll have to wait before those types of broadcasts can happen live.
I’m excited to try out broadcasts offered through this new partnership. While NextVR’s live capture typically recreates reality with a level of clarity that’s hard to find from other solutions, VR headset owners have had little reason to disconnect from their family and friends in the real world to watch something in VR when a TV can already easily provide that social experience. But if you could connect with friends in VR while watching a comedy act live? That certainly might offer a reason to put on the headset.
