Apple has finally revealed some of its VR work to the masses, after years of behind the scenes projects, with U2’s ‘Song for Someone’ now available in all its virtual glory.
Not shying away from a partnership that has had some ups and downs – ups being Bono as the iTunes music logo, downs being Apple users losing their minds when they were given a free U2 album – Apple’s ‘Experience Bus’ travels around the band’s world tour.
On board, people can browse through different bits and pieces, including a new VR video for the Songs of Innocence track, which is available on the Vrse app (Android, iOS) although, as it is VR, not all phones are compatible.
#U2 Teams with #AppleMusic for VR Experience #VR #VirtualReality https://t.co/isexAVlHBX pic.twitter.com/PyLIdhmjPe
— Roblem VR (@RoblemVR) October 27, 2015
The video for Song for Someone on Vrse was filmed by the band performing the song in an empty arena in Toronto, with fans from different gigs around the world added in.
#U2 #U2ieTour The U2 eXPERIENCE Bus pic.twitter.com/fm52jq9t0M
— U2tour (@U2tour) October 26, 2015
According to Wired, it was a project Apple started working on even before launching Apple Music, which is where you assume these projects will start popping up.
Apple Music already appealing
Apple Music, we recently found out, is doing exceedingly well. Just a few months after it launched, the company has already confirmed it has 6.5m paying customers.
With so many different companies offering music streaming services, it was believed that Apple may have missed the boat when it came to offering a similar service to what was available, but CEO Tim Cook has said the statistics prove otherwise.
“I’m finding personally that I’m discovering a whole lot of music that I wasn’t listening to before,” Cook said of its performance to date. “I think it’s fabulous. And to have over 15m on there, and 6.5m in the paid category, I’m really happy about it, and I think the runway here is really good.”
A long-term plan
Apple’s VR pursuit has been hidden in plain sight for a while now, with the company snapping up AI and VR companies to help add to its armoury.
Back in March Apple acquired Metaio, a company that is an offshoot of an R&D project at Volkswagen.
Metaio’s technology – which has been used by BMW, Macy’s, Ferrari and Ikea – enables brands to provide consumers with realistic experiences of products they may be considering purchasing.
Its main product, Metaio Creator, is an authoring tool that allows for quick and easy creation and deployment of augmented reality scenarios.
That acquisition came just a few days after Apple’s patent for a VR headset (above) was revealed. We just never expected back then that our first viewing of the company’s VR plans would feature Bono so prominently.
Main image via Robert Hensley on Flickr
