With the release of its latest collaboration, TheWaveVR continues to push the boundaries of VR and make a name for itself building mind-bending virtual worlds centered on music.
Based in Austin and Los Angeles, TheWaveVR raised a $4 million seed round earlier this year. The company employs around eight people full-time, plus a number of contractors, and the VR concerts they make are experienced with a group of people similar to a rave in the real world. These concerts remain some of the most talked-about things you can do in VR as the startup partners with musicians and wholly embraces what’s possible with almost total access to your sense of sight and sound. The company’s latest virtual world is a cell-shaded production created in collaboration with Los Angeles-based producer TOKiMONSTA.
It is a world with roughly 50 minutes of music from TOKiMONSTA’s album Lune Rouge and it opens for visitors starting Sunday Oct. 8 at 6 pm Pacific. You can get TheWaveVR on Steam. The software works with HTC Vive and unofficially with Oculus Rift. The last concert saw 350 people attend simultaneously, which is a significant figure considering it’s only available in the United States officially on one headset. This latest production lets visitors “explore a planet inspired by the album artwork, dance in an interstellar rave under an exploding sun, and remix a 3D world.”
I spoke with Adam Arrigo, CEO and co-founder of TheWaveVR, and he offered some insightful answers to my questions about their efforts.
Our goal is to “create an experience that is impossible to have in reality,” Arrigo said. “The best experiences in VR are the ones that are hard to describe in words, and consequently hard to capture with 2D video because they are truly native to the medium. In a VR music experience — music is only one third of the experience. Visuals are as important or more, and then there’s the interactive element.”
The Lune Rouge is the fifth “flagship” show from TheWaveVR “in a concert series aimed at pushing the boundaries of live music in VR,” according to the company. Previous events included Ninja Tune artist Ash Koosha’s AKTUAL and Strangeloop’s N-FOLD, released in association with BRAINFEEDER.
“Our goal as a company is to help artists create new experiences that let their fans get closer to their artistic vision,” Arrigo said in a prepared statement. “The Lune Rouge Experience lets fans literally step inside the album and experience her music in a new, interactive dimension.”
