Social experiences are springing up all over the VR ecosystem with a variety of feature to differentiate between them. Altspace, for example, delivers a virtual reflection of social outings in the real world and has been home to a live comedy show and even a wedding. VRChat, on the other hand, welcomes users into a “universe in flux” where users create a world of their own that could involve playing cops and robbers or digital laser tag. TheWaveVR is a social platform that evolved from a VR music visualization and creation platform into a virtual music festival. It’s using music and trippy visuals to stand out from the social VR crowd and users can test it out in Early Access starting today.
The team behind TheWaveVR announced the move to Early Access today and also revealed they’ve closed a $4 million seed round led by Upfront Ventures. Upfront released their own post for the announcement, calling TheWaveVR the potential “New Wave of Social”.
“Virtual Reality is far more than gaming and rather a medium that brings people together in environments not possible on earth,” says Upfront’s Kobie Fuller. “Today, I am excited to announce our latest investment in TheWaveVR which is a step towards bringing this vision to life.”
While TheWaveVR has evolved in the year it has been in development, its potential as an artist-driven platform has not been diminished. TheWaveVR team is continuing to build out tools for musicians and visual artists to import and distribute on the platform. They’ve also user tested the program with music creators and fans alike.
“We’re hyper focused on creating the most new and engaging social experiences for music content inVR,” says CEO and Co-Founder Adam Arrigo, who spent seven years working for Harmonix, creators of Rock Band and Dance Central. “We think the potential of this new medium isn’t in replicating reality, but amplifying it, so we want to give fans interactive experiences that can only be achieved in virtual reality.”
TheWaveVR is available for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive in Early Access via Steam.
