Rave in Europe’s Hottest Nightclub Minus the Cost of Airfare with VR Dancefloors: Techno in Berlin
Google has teamed up with Boiler Room, wildly popular underground music entertainment industry titan, to bring users the immersive VR experience VR Dancefloors: Techno in Berlin.
Techno in Berlin allows users to create a fully customized, unique experience by “choosing their own adventure”. Explore the eclectically diverse, raw underground club culture amongst a cast of 150 raver-characters, all representing the various subcultures unique to Berlin. How you choose to spend your time is up to you. Hang with the artists, hit the dancefloor (where you can break an actual sweat!), delve into the dark room, peruse audio-visual installations, and explore the hidden spaces of Berlin’s underground club culture without ever having to purchase a plane ticket.
“Boiler Room’s MO has always centered around using the latest accessible technology to unite online audiences around real-life music moments. This is why VR excites us: it represents the next stage of immersive, interactive, online music experience. With the help of Pixel and the Daydream View headset, now we can transport anyone into the middle of a packed sweaty dance floor anywhere in the world,” said Steven Appleyard, CBDO of Boiler Room.
The VR experience is part of a new cultural genre, featuring a unique blend of immersive theatre, computer game narrative, music TV broadcast, and installation art. Filmed in industrial Berlin nightclub venues, Techno in Berlin features a 15 minute live-electronics set by Berliners FJAAK, who played from a range of analogue hardware. The goal with this collaboration is to celebrate Germany’s unique cultural club elements and make them accessible to all, regardless of geographic location.
The experience is designed to be enjoyed on Pixel, the first phone by Google, a device optimised for VR. It is available for free on Daydream, Google’s VR platform as part of the ‘Inception app’. The app is also available to download for Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Rift.