Apple’s Reality Pro headset will pack a number of unique features when it’s announced on Momday (10am PDT / 1pm EDT) at WWDC 2023, including virtual reality concerts.
Last month, MacDailyNews reported, “One selling point of Apple’s mixed-reality headset will be attending live and recorded concerts remotely. Buy a ticket, for significantly less than in-person, and the headset will “as much as possible, be like being there – with extras like changing seat positions. Apple’s launch [in mid-MAy] of new concert discovery and set lists features on Apple Maps and Apple Music lays part of the foundation.”
Nothing will ever compare to the experience of live music. But when you combine things like 360-degree video, top-of-the-line display technology, and spatial audio, Apple’s Reality Pro headset will create an incredibly immersive experience.
What I want from Apple, and what I think the company is actively planning, are virtual reality versions of actual concerts. Not fake metaverse concerts, but the ability to watch actual concerts – whether live or pre-recorded – in virtual reality…
In 2020, Apple acquired NextVR, a company that was focused on creating VR experiences for viewing live events like sporting events and concerts. At the time, the company’s content was available for headsets from the likes of Oculus, HTC, and PlayStation.
The work on content like this dates back over a decade. NextVR was founded in 2009 and built a wide library of content in the years prior to the Apple acquisition. With Apple’s pile of cash and connections, it’s easy to assume that NextVR has been able to further ramp up the pace at which this type of content is created…
All of this is to say that offering an in-depth catalog of live concerts could be a key selling point for Reality Pro and xrOS.
MacDailyNews Take: Could be a very nice selling point.
Little birdie: One selling point of Apple's mixed-reality headset will be attending live and recorded concerts remotely. Buy a ticket, for significantly less than in-person, & the headset will "as much as possible, be like being there – with extras like changing seat positions." pic.twitter.com/GV0B5b5gP6
— MacDailyNews (@MacDailyNews) May 18, 2023
See also: Apple headset said to offer remote concert attendance – May 18, 2023
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It better offer more than that for the ridiculous price. Also, from what I’ve read, who cares about 10-year-old concerts surely not a reason to buy this device
Who cares? The killer app is OLD concerts…
Old concerts won’t have been filmed with this technology in mind. I know AI is getting pretty clever with this kind of thing but I think we’re a long way off any sort of feeling of ‘being there’, googles or not.
This is the moment we find out if Apple can still think different or if this pipeline was just grabbing at straws for possible ideas then blindly pushing it through to release.
The question on everyone’s lips will be, ‘Is this what Steve would have done’
Vision or desperation?
Popcorns ready I want it to be great but the head don’t think it’s a reality set yet.
And when the show does not impress:
“Hey Siri, put me in the stage left balcony box.
Hey Siri, activate Statler and Waldorf.”
This, alone, will be a new multi-billion dollar business for Apple. It’s a product only Apple can provide.
Will it also have the ear-splitting deafening volume of live concerts?
I would like an obstructed view for standing behind a very large concertgoer.
This is the least interesting possibility for this tech that I’ve heard so far, I have no interest in Ticketmaster and the like milking it for all its worth. Rest assured that there will be “exclusive, behind-the-scenes experiences” that will cost MORE than normal tickets, they’ll try to upsell you WHILE watching the stupid show.
I’m more interested in immersive YouTube videos. Watching drone videos, tours/travel and DIY videos should be pretty awesome, especially once the right filming techniques and camera tech are matched to the hardware’s capabilities.