In Mark Zuckerberg’s $14 billion virtual reality known as the Metaverse, a dreamscape where Fantasy Island and Fantasia meet, experiencing anything and going anywhere is seemingly possible. The Metaverse has been called the internet 3.0, and it’s where flat screens go to die.
After winning Pollstar's 'Best Small Outdoor Concert Venue' Award 11 times, the award was renamed ... [+]
Meta’s big gamble isn’t about viewing places and events, it’s about experiencing them in a front-row seat. In the Metaverse, two billion people could watch a Super Bowl, hovering above the coaches at the 50-yard line, utterly immersed in the action.
If you can imagine it, chances are it can live in the Metaverse. Roaming the Jurassic with dinosaurs? Why not. Walking alongside Neil Armstrong on the moon? Sure.
In this universe, bucket list experiences are only a pair of virtual reality goggles away. Maybe you’ve always wanted to attend a Wimbledon championship, dive alongside great whites without losing a limb, hit a NASCAR track behind the wheel of the winning car, cliff dive in Acapulco, enjoy an African safari, or parachute from an Apache helicopter? Well, such a reality likely isn’t far off and you’ll be able to do it from the comfort of your living room.
Over 1.5 million attended ticketed events at Red Rocks in 2022.
But that’s not all, Zuckerberg’s vision for the platform includes being nearly all things to all people where education, how-to instruction (with the help of augmented reality), corporate training, fitness, games, and much more can all be experienced like never before.
Imagine the universities of the future where the greatest lecturers on every subject are waiting for you in virtual halls— master classes in painting, writing, architecture, literature, culinary arts, and the like are simply your wishes waiting to be commanded.
In the Metaverse, you don’t travel the world, the universe comes to you. Perhaps it will never replace man’s need and wanderlust for travel, but it’s likely to alter how we experience the world of the future—and the past. Does this mean it’s time to shed your airline stock? Perhaps.
Travel is one of the most environmentally taxing and expensive industries in the world, so Meta’s ever-growing list of bucket list destinations that can be experienced through virtual reality is expanding at a rapid clip.
One new project that Meta is cooking up is a virtual concert experience from Colorado’s famed Red Rocks Amphitheater. The iconic music venue is a national historic landmark and has hosted many of the biggest acts of the last 80 years.
Meta's Thomas Stockwell works on original programming with an emphasis on VR-first shows.
“Every music buff has Red Rocks on their must-see list,” says Meta’s Thomas Stockwell. “So why not give the world a better than front row seat through the Metaverse to experience this incredible and iconic venue as only virtual reality can deliver it?”
Live From Red Rocks will celebrate the majesty of the amphitheater and five distinct music acts with large social followings that fit an under 21-year-old demographic that is most attracted to the Metaverse. Acts include Santa Fe Klan, Louis The Child, Tyler Childers, Alison Wonderland, and Zhu. The series will be available from Meta for free starting in December on their Horizon World Platform.
Robert Watts is Co-founder and Executive Producer at Light Sail VR, a boutique production company ... [+]
“The amazing thing about these concerts in the Metaverse is that not only can you visit a venue you may not be able to get to in person, but we give the end user exclusive access to be on stage right next to the artist as if you were standing on stage with them. It’s an amazing way to experience a concert,” says Robert Watts of Light Sail VR, the company tasked with delivering the Virtual Reality shows.
For Zuckerberg, he’s betting that belief applies to almost every entertainment and educational experience, and if his gamble pays off, media will never be the same.
