Sensorium VR – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

June 23, 2021

See the Creation of a Virtual Carl Cox for Sensorium Galaxy

Sensorium Galaxy is building up to a big launch this year, looking to become one of the go-to metaverses for immersive entertainment. Over the past year, the social platform has revealed the likes of superstar DJ’s including David Guetta and Carl Cox are going to be part of this digital universe performing exclusive sets for fans. Just like it did a couple of months ago for Guetta, today Sensorium Galaxy has revealed a new behind the scenes footage of Cox’s participation.

The short documentary features an interview with Carl Cox and why he was drawn to this virtual reality (VR) project whilst showcasing all the work that has gone into digitising the renowned electronic music artist. “I am excited to join Sensorium Galaxy in taking communication and entertainment to the next level. This immersive platform allows you to experience things and share special moments with other people no matter where they are,” said Cox previously.

It’s a highly involved process all recorded in Melbourne, Australia by Rouge MoCap. In a massive 360-degree camera rig the company captures every inch of Cox so they can accurately reproduce the DJ inside Sensorium Galaxy. All that was on the first day while day two focused on the motion capture, actually recording the DJ in action as he performs a set. Here you see Cox using tech like the Manus Prime II gloves alongside Pioneer turntables for accurate reproduction.

Just like all the other DJ’s once Sensorium Galaxy launches you’ll find Carl Cox in Prism World, a virtual clubland developed in collaboration with Yann Pissenem, the creator of clubs Ushuaïa Ibiza and Hï Ibiza. Cox and Guetta will be joined by Armin Van Buuren, Black Coffee and Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike as the currently confirmed lineup.

Sensorium Galaxy will consist of two worlds to begin with, Prism; for all the music, and the Sensorium Starship which acts as the hub for the launch in Q3 2021. There will be a third called Motion World where you travel underwater to music that is designed for relaxation. This is expected to arrive in Q4 2021.

I won’t purely be a place to go and listen to music. Like most VR metaverses currently being created Sensorium Galaxy wants to be a social platform with its own community, commerce and ability to sustain itself. It’ll be accessible via PC VR headsets as well as on desktop, iOS and Android devices. There’s an early VR tech demo on Sensorium Galaxy’s website and for further updates on the launch, keep reading VRFocus.

April 7, 2021

Go Behind-the-Scenes of Sensorium Galaxy With David Guetta

This year is set to be a tumultuous one for the live music industry with iconic events such as Glastonbury cancelling its physical festival – a live stream will take its place – whilst others later in the year like Las Vegas’ Life Is Beautiful are currently going ahead as planned. Helping fill that live music void are platforms including Sansar with its Lost Horizon event, and later this year Sensorium Galaxy is set to offer an all-star DJ line-up with a new video showcasing David Guetta.

Guetta was the first artist officially announced by Sensorium, now joined by the likes of Carl Cox, Armin Van Buuren, Black Coffee and Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike. In this new behind-the-scenes video, you get to see the work going into making the DJ’s digital avatar so the final product will look photorealistic to those attending one of his shows inside Sensorium Galaxy.

Slightly more in-depth than the character customisation options most VR gamers get for their in-game avatars, Sensorium Corp enlisted the help of Rouge MoCap to ensure every aspect of Guetta’s appearance was recorded. From normal standing and seated poses to various facial expressions, the team even took detailed close up shots of his eyes and teeth so Guetta fans shouldn’t be disappointed!

All this is building up to Sensorium Galaxy’s launch which is currently slated to take place in Q2 2021. Whilst the overall idea of the platform is to provide an artist metaverse where everyone can socialise and get creative, initially the focus is on music to draw people in. So all the DJ sets will be held in Prism World developed in collaboration with Yann Pissenem, the creator of clubs Ushuaïa Ibiza and Hï Ibiza.

In addition to Prism, visitors will also find the underwater Motion World where they can swim through ancient ruins with aquatic creatures called Omojas for company. There’s also the Starship Sensorium, the first location showcased and accessible to beta users who signed up last year. While VR will provide users with the best Sensorium Galaxy experience the team is ensuring maximum coverage by supporting PC and mobile devices as well.

Sensorium Galaxy and others like it still see massive potential in virtual events, especially considering lockdown measures and the growth of VR headsets – namely Oculus Quest 2. But that’s not the case for all. Wave – formerly TheWaveVR – one of the earliest in this field announced at the beginning of 2021 that its VR app was closing to focus its efforts on the streaming market. As further details on Sensorium Galaxy‘s launch are revealed, VRFocus will let you know.

October 15, 2020

Iconic DJ Carl Cox to Join Sensorium Galaxy in 2021

With few places allowing the clubbing scene to continue DJ’s have been branching out, with one area being virtual reality (VR) entertainment. During the summer legendary DJ Carl Cox was one of the myriad artists performing a Sansar’s Lost Horizon festival. Now social platform Sensorium Galaxy has announced he’ll be hosting a series of exclusive performances in 2021.

During his career, Cox has headlined some of the world’s biggest festivals including Coachella, Electric Daisy Carnival, Tomorrowland and Glastonbury. His DJ sets will be held in PRISM World, a dedicated location to music concerts and festivals inside Sensorium Galaxy.

PRISM was developed in collaboration with Yann Pissenem, the creator of clubs Ushuaïa Ibiza and Hï Ibiza, both of which have been awarded “The World’s Best Club” by the International Nightlife Association.

“I am excited to join Sensorium Galaxy in taking communication and entertainment to the next level. Being a part of their vision is going to be a lot of fun. This immersive platform allows you to experience things and share special moments with other people no matter where they are,” Cox said in a statement. “Sensorium Galaxy is going to revolutionise how people socialize while overcoming the current limitations on how we enjoy music and the arts online, giving everyone a chance to connect in a much more meaningful way.”

“PRISM will allow Sensorium users to experience activities and emotions that are impossible in real life,” Pissenem adds. “Carl Cox is an icon of the electronic music scene, an artist constantly striving for progress. He understands the vast opportunities offered by new technologies, including VR, for building enhanced entertainment platforms and a new generation communication tools that allow artists to scale their creativity, whilst engaging with their fans on a whole new level”

Cox won’t be the only international DJ performing at PRISM. DJ and producer David Guetta will also be joining the lineup. Currently, the public release of Sensorium Galaxy is scheduled for H1 2021, supporting VR headsets, PC and mobile devices. If you want to see an early version there’s a VR tech demo on Sensorium Galaxy’s website. For further updates, keep reading VRFocus.

July 2, 2019

E3 2019 Interview: Feeling the Beat With Sensorium & RedPill VR

When it comes to making an impression at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles you need to go big. The South Hall tends to be a mixture of small booths and then massive ones, with Bethesda, Ubisoft and Epic Games’ Fortnight all taking up huge chunks of the floor. So it was quite a surprise that none of these made anywhere near as much noise as the RedPill VR/Sensorium Corp booth, for their upcoming social virtual reality (SVR) music platform. VRFocus managed to grab Sensorium’s Ingvar Goldman to find out more.

Currently, only in a prototype stage, the SVR platform is a sort of virtual club, where you can hang out with friends, watch live shows, and interact with all manner of virtual objects. At E3 the stand had a live DJ on one side, playing in VR whilst wearing an HTC Vive Pro. Visitors were then able to step inside SVR and walk (teleport) around the environment, heading to the dance floor, watching from the DJ booth of then exploring the environment further.

Exploration then yields lots of hidden orbs to play with, creating different lighting effects, giant balls which bounce and pulsate or for the more adventurous there were structures which look like climbing frames, so you could clamber up to get scenic views of the event.

The whole purpose of the technology RedPill VR and Sensorium Corporation has developed is to make virtual live events both a natural place to spend time and enjoy concerts whilst at the same time provide unique experiences which only VR is capable of doing. So you’ll be able to watch world-famous artists perform in fantasy venues as well as real ones like Barclays Center, Webster Hall, NYCB LIVE and Paramount Theatre.

Live events and especially ones involving music are being tapped for their VR potential. In the video, Goldman discusses how the companies aim to make the platform unique to draw VR consumers in, and how development is progressing as the launch is scheduled to take place in 2020.

Check out the full interview below, or take a look at VRFocus’ other interviews from E3 2019 with Oculus’ Jason Rubin, Vertigo Games, Gearbox Software, Ready at Dawn, nDreams and Digital Lode. For further SVR platform updates, keep reading VRFocus.

March 9, 2018

Adding Layers Of Interactivity To ZIKR: A Sufi Revival

Matthew Niederhauser came from a background in anthropology and journalism. When he started dipping his toe in documentary and installations he got bit by the virtual reality (VR) bug. This led him to doing VR for three years and setting up Sensorium, an experiential studio that most recently world premiered ZIKR: A Sufi Revival at Sundance Film Festival this year.

ZIKR: A Sufi Revival

Niederhauser explains that he was on a trip with Gabo on a United Nations special mission to Libya where they encountered some Sufi performing as part of a ritual in Tunisia. Blown away, they had never seen anything like it and decided John Fitzgerald, himself and Gabo Arora had to go back and make something out of it. Niederhauser says that Tunisia was unique as it was an Islamic nation. ZIKR: A Sufi Revival is aimed specifically at bringing interactivity to the documentary format, combining 360 degree video with volumetric interviews using Depthkit. Working together with interactive development firm Superbright, they helped use Unity to add another level of interactivity to the documentary. Enabling users to have beads that interacted with the user and those in the experience as well.

At the Sundance Film Festival, users were required to enter an empty chamber, take off their jackets and shoes, and put on an HTC Vive headset on. A special Tunisian rug was brought in and four users were put in a diamond like pattern in a ritualistic circle with HTC Vive controllers. Under two lighthouse sensors, four users were able to enjoy the experience together and interact with the content as well as each other. Everybody appears to one another as translucent avatars and the more you move your controllers, the more the environment reacts to you. Niederhauser says that people in the experience at Sundance thoroughly enjoyed it and the dancing, and this has inspired them to think about taking the experience online. “It was an amazing reaction and thinking of ways we can turn it into a home, a lobby… Come in people from around the world and participate together.”

Users were coming out of the experience laughing and smiling. Niederhauser says that it was a beautiful and joyous experience, which he believes was primarily due to people participating in it together. “We uncovered a new leaf in the documentary realm.”

With Dogwoof purchasing ZIKR: A Sufi Revival there are now discussions on improving the next iteration. Potentially through creating an online lobby so people can experience it at home, adding subpac peripherals and using HTC Vive trackers rather than controllers.

To find out more about the Sensorium, and how they used various levels of technology watch the video below.

February 1, 2018

VR Documentary ZIKR: A Sufi Revival Acquired by Dogwoof at Sundance Film Festival

Last week the popular Sundance Film Festival took place, showcasing some of the best films from around the world. One of those in attendance was ZIKR: A Sufi Revival which VRFocus reported on just as the event took place. Now it has been revealed that documentary producer, sales agent and theatrical distributor, Dogwoof has purchased the immersive documentary.

ZIKR: A Sufi Revival

Directed by Gabo Arora (Ground Beneath Her), produced by Jennifer Tiexiera, and created by Sensorium, Superbright, and Tomorrow Never Knows, ZIKR: A Sufi Revival premiered 19th January in the New Frontier section of the festival. The film takes four participants on an interactive, virtual reality (VR) journey into a world of ecstatic ritual and music in order to explore the nature of faith alongside followers of this mystical Islamic tradition. By opening up an experience to Sufism, dancing and singing alongside members of the Tunisian group Association de la Renaissance du Maalouf et du Chant Soufi de Sidi Bou Saïd, it aims to shed light on the religion, revealing an Islamic practice of inclusion, acceptance, art, joy and understanding.

The deal was brokered on the last day of the Festival by Dogwoof’s Andy Whittaker and Tomorrow Never Knows’ Nathan Brown. The agreement secures funding to support additional development, including an online version of the VR experience to bring multiple players into the experience from around the world.

Dogwoof will also look to global distribution with location based installations at high profile international cultural centers, cinemas and museums. This is the first public project for Tomorrow Never Knows, a newly formed VR/AR/AI startup founded by industry veterans Arora, Brown, Saschka Unseld and Tom Lofthouse.

ZIKR: A Sufi Revival

“There is real demand and a growing market for distinctive storytelling in VR/AR,” said Brown, CEO of Tomorrow Never Knows. “To partner with Andy and Dogwoof, one of the world’s most acclaimed producers and distributors of non-fiction stories, is more than a signal, it’s a lightning bolt for the entire industry.”

“Andy and his team at Dogwoof, have proven themselves over and over with their work in traditional documentary. And, with their first VR acquisition with ZIKR, they will bring their same tenacious spirit to making sure more and more people can experience a story very pertinent to what’s happening in the world now,” said Arora. “I couldn’t dream of a better home for ZIKR or a better team than Dogwoof for global distribution. I am honoured to be joining their award winning catalog.”

For the latest news on VR and 360-degree filmmaking, keep reading VRFocus.

January 18, 2018

ZIKR: A Sufi Revival Heads To Sundance Film Festival

Today marks the start of the latest Sundance Film Festival, running until January 28th 2018. While the festival itself continues to adapt with the times its role in shining a spotlight on some of the finest exponents of the craft that is story telling has not changed one iota. Of course something that has made increasing strides over the last three years has been the addition of immersive experiences and installations into the various facets that make up the Sundance line-up. That and of course those from other festivals as well, like Raindance.

We’ve already had a few of announcements regarding Sundance this year; there’s the virtual reality (VR) animated film Battlescar from 1stAveMachine. An exploration of the late 70’s Punk scene in New York starring actress Rosario Dawson which will feature as part of the Sundance New Frontier Program. Dinner Party, RYOT’s VR story story of alien abduction and revelations at a dinner party in early sixties America. Digital Domain are bringing Micro Giants, an immersive narrative about a micro-ecosystem that includes vivid details and beautiful design and just recently a study in urban warfare with HERO from iNK Stories and Starbreeze.

One more can now be added to the list ZIKR: A Sufi Revival, which is coming to the Kimball Art Center from January 19th through to the 27th, again as part of the New Frontier category.

Presented by the partnership of Superbright, Sensorium, Tomorrow Never Knows, BoomGen Studions and 1001 Media, ZIKR: A Sufi Revival seeks to shed light on an often confused religion – Sufism, known in the Muslim world as Tasawwuf and which is often described as a mysticism-based aspect of Islam. The project, which has you join the Tunisian group Association de la Renaissance du Maalouf et du Chant Soufi de Sidi Bou Saïd looks into the creative side of Sufism, of art, dance and the joy and importance that can be found in both ritual and music. The social aspect is kept intact by your ability to see other participants as virtual avatars and you will be able int interact through song, fance and a number of physical objects which have the capablility not just change your experience but that of those around you.

“My hope is that ZIKR: A Sufi Revival, with its unprecedented level of engagement and interactivity, will allow for a more meaningful connection to Islam that goes beyond empathy and tolerance.” Explained the Director, Gabo Arora. “I want it to
evoke the deep sense of bliss and elation these rituals can bring in order to communicate something that cannot be learned through words, but only through experience.Executive producer, best-selling author, scholar of religions, and

Reza Aslan, Co-Founder of BoomGen Studios added: “We founded BoomGen Studios as a hack to leverage the power of storytelling to reframe perceptions, to change people’s minds and to create new identities. There is no better example of that than what Gabo and team have accomplished with the eye-opening experience that is ZIKR.”

“With this experience we push the boundaries of interactive social VR by re-imaging embodiment and presence in Sufi rituals. Participants are afforded an opportunity to engage with each other through song and dance and gain a more holistic understanding of Islam.” Said Igal Nassima, ZIKR’S creative technologist.

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