Dance Tonite is an ever-changing VR collaboration by LCD Soundsystem and their fans.
It was only three months ago at Google I/O that I had some of the most fun in VR i’ve had all year long. Although exciting leaps forward, it wasn’t what you’d expect demoing Google’s secretive inside-out headset or taking their Expeditions AR program for spin.
The most fun was actually a dance party. And not just any dance party—a LCD Soundsystem VR dance pool party.
Now the VR experience that had us all flailing our arms in a HTC Vive or bobbing our head donning a Google Daydream headset is available for everyone to enjoy.
Whether you have a Daydream View, a room-scale VR headset, or just want to check it out on the web, LCD Soundsystem’s “Dance Tonite” VR collaboration is designed to work across different devices.
Celebrating LCD Soundsystem’s latest single “Tonite,” this unexpected approach to VR is part dance party and part dance viewing party. You go from room to room experiencing a series of dance performances created entirely by fans. All choreography was recorded using room-scale VR setups, which use headset and controller tracking to reflect your physical movements in your virtual environment. Instead of just mirroring your movements, “Dance Tonite” turns your room-scale VR kit into a DIY motion capture tool, letting you add your own moves to the party.
“Individual performers in Dance Tonite are represented by simple moving objects—just a cone and two cylinders. Even though they’re all represented by the same basic shapes, the experience captures the idiosyncrasies of each person’s movements,” said Jeff Nusz from the Data Arts Team that collaborated with LCD Soundsystem on the experience. “The constraints encourage creativity and diversity, while the overall experience expands and changes with each new contribution.”
“Dance Tonite” uses WebVR, a open standard that brings high-quality VR content to the web. So if you don’t have a VR headset, you can still watch the experience from a bird’s-eye view with the ability to click on any performer’s head to see it from their perspective. This allows you to enter the experience through a single URL—no apps or downloads needed.
“Dance Tonite” was directed by artists Jonathan Puckey and Moniker, in collaboration with the Data Arts Team— a specialized group within Google exploring the ongoing dialog between artists and emerging technologies. You can read more about their process and learnings using WebVR here.
