Sony unleashes VR music video with projection mapping technology at SXSW.
If you’re unfamiliar with the annual South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, it’s basically a celebration of, well, everything. Film, television, video games, art, music, comedy, technology, politics, every influential aspect of our lives all colliding together for nine days of pure cultural ecstasy. 2018’s festivities were no exception, hosting a massive number of brands, influential speakers and great minds.
However, it was Sony that managed to catch the attention of many tech-centric festival-goers with its veritable playground of futuristic gadgets, from their popular AI driven robodog, Aido, to the virtual pucks of their glowing A(i)r Hockey table.
As cool as these toys were, Sony’s “Lost in Music” event is where things really got interesting, with the company debuting the first VR music video to incorporate projection mapping technology into its production.
Teaming up with modern R&B heartthrob Khalid, Sony transformed the official video to the superstar’s smash hit “Young Dumb & Broke” (currently sitting at 300 million views on YouTube) into a virtual journey guaranteed to make you say, “Duh fuh?”
After entering Sony’s “dreamscape” room and snuggling into a Playstation VR headset, festival-goers were thrust into the seat of Khalid’s dream car. They were then treated to a brief introduction before kicking off their immersive musical journey, which included clips from the video, flying jellyfish and whales.
“I am so excited to be featured in Sony’s Lost in Music campaign for 2018,” said Khalid. “It’s going to be so awesome to connect with my fans through an experience unlike anything I’ve done before. Plus, I get to show them an awesome new VR music video.
The highlight however was the use of projection mapping to bring a hip-swinging, planet-hopping 3D model of Khalid himself into the experience, the first for a VR music video. Simply put, this 360° technology allows for a higher quality stereoscopic image while in VR, greatly increasing the quality of animated 3D models and other real-life objects.
“This idea of using projection mapping inside a virtual world was something that was created through an original Sony interactive entertainment engine,” stated Miki Anan, senior manager of entertainment partnerships at Sony in an interview with Adweek. “We wanted to bring together a completely new type of immersive experience to music lovers.”
All Playstation VR owners will eventually get the chance to check out the immersive musical experience themselves when it becomes available for download this Spring.
Image Credit: Sony
