Jack White launches virtual reality app
The former White Stripes frontman is the latest rock star to embrace the immersive musical possibilities of sliding a smartphone into a VR headset.
Jack White might not be the first name that springs to mind when thinking about the marriage of cutting-edge digital technology and music. After all, this is a man who records songs on tape and sells albums on vinyl.
However, just two weeks after ex-Beatle Paul McCartney launched his own free virtual reality app for Android handsets, White is following suit.
Like McCartney's, White's app, called "Jack White: Third-D," is designed to work with Google's do-it-yourself VR headset, Project Cardboard. Sliding any Android headset with a 5-inch or greater display into the headset will treat the wearer to a 360-degree stereoscopic 3D live performance of a number of White's latest tracks, including "Ball and Biscuit." The footage was captured by a company called Jaunt at a number of recent concerts including at Fenway Park and the Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
Jaunt is also the company behind Paul McCartney's app, which offers users a similarly immersive take on a recent live performance of "Live and Let Die," complete with pyrotechnics and, like White's app, is for Android handsets and designed to work with Google Cardboard.
A Google Cardboard headset can be built from scratch at home by anyone or can be ordered as a self-assembly kit, direct from Google for $10. But for an extra incentive, the first 75 Jack White fans armed with Android devices who buy his new album in Nashville (home of his record label) on Wednesday are getting a special edition of Google Cardboard free of charge.
We're still in the early days of virtual reality but it appears that music could have just as big an influence on its development as gaming. Beck has already been testing the technology's capabilities in partnership with Oculus VR, the Facebook-owned company behind the Oculus Rift Virtual Reality headset, and more recently, The Who announced that it is also working with the company to develop an app to accompany the upcoming release of its new compilation album, "The Who Hits 50."
Jack White: Third-D is available to download from Google Play, now. And, for those who don't have an Android device or the time to build a headset, a 2D preview of what to expect can be viewed at youtu.be/FlROqPWfuEc.
