Virtual reality entertainment events with huge crowds of 3D avatars are already here. In April 2020, rapper Travis Scott held a concert in online video game Fortnite’s captivating surroundings, playing to an audience of 12.3 million! K-pop group BTS also chose Fortnite to debut their new single in September 2020.
Now, VR entertainment has a new thrust. Going forward (really, what other direction is there?), media and entertainment experiences in the metaverse will no longer be standalone affairs. Instead, there will be a unified space that integrates multiple virtual worlds into a single, interoperable location that can be accessed by any number of users simultaneously. And they’ll be able to choose from myriad entertainment venues, events, and services.
What will this look like?
It will be a virtual copy of our real world with astonishing verisimilitude, aided by conveniences such as teleportation, content projection, and infinite appearance customization.
In terms of technology, the metaverse combines AI, blockchain, virtual reality, mixed reality, and advanced IoT technology to help users perceive and interact with virtual entities as though they were real.
In a way, the metaverse can be an entertainment experience unto itself. The very fact that users can leave the physical world and engage with unfamiliar yet keenly believable surroundings is entertaining in itself. Now, providers are building on those basic capabilities to produce content that grabs and maintains user attention.
This includes regular 2D content streamed to metaverse locations such as a VR movie theatre, 360-degree video content, immersive infotainment experiences, and live events.
Three Important Uses
1. Virtual reality theme park
VR theme parks and amusements parks would eliminate the challenges of building costs, visitor safety, location, travel, innovation, and even the laws of physics!
2. Competitive entertainment and sports betting
VR would allow betters to observe an event up close, enabling better decisions. Betting is motivated by peer networks, and the metaverse is a social place. The metaverse also comes with its own crypto wallet.
3. Concerts inside the metaverse
As mentioned, the idea of virtual concerts isn’t new, and leading artists have turned to this technology to counter the losses during COVID-19.
Imagine Dragons, Travis Scott, BTS, Muse, Post Malone, and several other contemporary artists have held VR concerts in the last two years. The metaverse will enable increased visibility and flexibility for the user while ensuring predictable audiences for artists.
