Oculus Venues and MORE!

[pkcable]

Folks,

Has anyone tried Oculus Venues yet? It's an app that allows you to "attend" (virtually) live events, such as sports, music, comedy, and more. You actually sit with and can chat with other people. Volume can be controlled so you can shutup or lessen the others around you. You can also turn down the live event if you want to chat with those near you. You can also watch solo if you want.

So how is it? It works quite well. The video streams look great and play well. It's a 360 degree video so no matter where you look you can see stuff. Earlier today I watched a soccer, World Cup game between Brazil and Croatia. I was right at the center line. It REALLY felt like being in the actual stadium. A cool feature was 2 video walls towards the top of the arena that also played the game as "broadcasted." It really felt like I was at a game! During replays of exciting moments the 2 screens would combine and play right in front of us before moving back to their regular positions as play resumed!

Besides just amazing events, sports (I've seen soccer and MLB), concerts (music and comedy), and more, there is also to social aspect. I have already "met" several people, and had some really good conversations. I also saw a budding relationship. Two people in front of me (at a comedy show last night) had a conversation, and then decided to go to an Oculus Room together. Oculus Rooms is a whole other story which I will probably dedicate another thread to! lol

Along these same lines are events held at Altspace, Endless Riff, and NextVR. Altspace is interesting as it's more of a freeform world that you can explore with and hangout with others. Endless Riff is mainly music, and has 1 to 2 shows a night. It's much more chill, BUT pretty close the Oculus venues, in a much small scale. NextVR has mostly sports and then some other event coverage (World of Dance for example), BUT it's strictly a solo experience. Although, through a joint venture most live NextVR stuff is also available in Ovculus Venues.

I highly recommend you check these out! Live events in VR is THE "go to app" within Oculus Go (GearVR too)

 

[Golfdriver97]

Haven't tried it myself. I'm admittedly not big on VR, but I will admit, this sounds like an intriguing use case for VR.

Another one that I like is mock surgery. I've seen fictional TV shows showcase this and it's a good idea.

 

[pkcable]

Going to post this here rather than another thread. Lately I have really been digging, Endless Riff. It's like going to a small music venue, or sometimes even a big one. They have 2 "rooms" or clubs. They have New York's Rockwood Music Hall (the small club), and also a larger space (I don't know what THAT is modelled after). I believe more spaces are planned. Right now 90% of the stuff happens at Rockwood.

I've actually "met" (virtually) some of the Endless Riff staff, as I love doing bug reports. I have steadily seen it get better. YES there are some kinks. Navigating around for example while pretty easy, does sometimes cause problems. I got trapped behind the bar last night. And going upstairs is not the smoothest process either, BUT it is a ton of fun! And as I said they ARE working on it. Early on I was having issues with the sound quality/volume BUT they squashed that bug! I also wish they had more avatars, sometimes I'm in there with another me, and 2, 3 or 4 of the default avatar. lol They tell me they ARE working on it.

In any event Endless Riff is a load of fun. You get to go to a live show AND hang out with your friends OR meet new people. I LOVE the promise of this and hope they continue to refine the process, which I know they will!