Tune in to Coachella’s YouTube Channel to watch select live performances April 13 – 15.
One of the first festivals to bring VR to the masses with custom Google Cardboard headsets mailed to ticket holders back in 2016, Coachella has aways been experimenting with immersive technology and exploring new ways they can bring the music festival experience to the rest of the world unable to attend.
Now in an exclusive partnership with YouTube, Coachella announced that they will be livestreaming the first weekend of the music festival in VR180.
If you tune into Coachella’s YouTube channel this weekend (April 13-15), you’ll be treated with a combination of live 2D and VR180 performances from some of the biggest artists, including Beyoncé, The Weeknd, ODESZA, Post Malone, The War on Drugs, Kygo, Chromeo, Alan Walker, BØRNS, alt-J and many more.
You’ll have the choice of four livestream feeds with different artists performing on each simultaneously. This includes one VR180 channel that will allow you to experience performances and exclusive on the ground coverage in a more immersive way using viewers and headsets like Google Cardboard and Daydream View.
YouTube introduced the new VR180 format in June, which focuses on the 180-degree field of view in front of you. This lets creators like Coachella make immersive stereoscopic video without having to worry about what’s behind the camera.
The Coachella VR180 channel will also let you create personalized viewing schedules to feature the live acts you actually want to see, where livestream channels will automatically change to artists you select. Highlights from the weekend will be available through a video-on-demand hub. Jason Bentley from KCRW will return as host, along with co-hosts Nadeska Alexis, Valerie Lee and Brittany Eustis, bringing us all interviews with artists and creators from throughout the festival.
Here’s the list of performances that will be available in VR180:
- Los Ángeles Azules
- Elohim
- SuperDuperKyle
- the Neighbourhood
- Whethan
- Alan Walker
- Vince Staples
- Kygo
- Deorro
- Troy Boi
- The Weeknd
- Wizkid
- Ekali
- Nile Rodgers & CHIC
- Party Favor
- Chromeo
- Tyler, the Creator
- Post Malone
For those of you lucky enough to attend Coachella, Google is also joining forces with YouTube for special activations around the festival grounds. Google Home will have a custom voice-enabled experience for both festival goers and fans around the globe tuning in to the livestream, allowing you to discover music from artists performing as part of this year’s lineup and test your knowledge of the festival, present and past. You’ll be able to say, “Hey Google, talk to Coachella,” and Google Home will become your Coachella companion, providing information on the festival from set times to travel info. Once gates open, fans at home will get the backstage experience with live artist interviews throughout the weekend.
Google Pixel will also be showing off its camera capabilities at one of Coachella’s most iconic and popular attractions, the giant Ferris Wheel. Surprised festival goers boarding select Ferris Wheel gondolas will walk into a special Pixel photo booth, creating a unique photo moment.
Coachella first started experimenting with VR back in 2015 with a standalone Cardboard app. They soon followed that up with a custom cardboard headsets in 2016 and introduced AR within their mobile app in 2017.
Image Credit: Coachella
