Virtual Reality Is Here, and Jaunt Wants to Show You VR Movies (Video)

It has been two and a half years since Facebook’s Oculus VR reignited interest in virtual reality with a $2.4 million Kickstarter campaign. The original pitch was that VR would let you “step into the game,” but now the buzz is about stepping into the movies.

Today at the Code/Media conference, VR-movie company Jaunt demoed one of its first big-name projects — a Paul McCartney concert video that lets viewers feel as though they’re onstage with Sir Paul.

Jaunt CEO Jens Christensen and community manager Nicole Relyea put Re/code’s Lauren Goode into the concert, by way of a prototype Oculus Rift headset.

Facebook and Oculus have remained tight-lipped about when a consumer-ready version of the Rift will go on sale. But it’s possible to try VR for yourself now: All Code/Media attendees received a cardboard VR headset from Jaunt, made by Dodocase.

The Paul McCartney video, in which the former Beatle sings “Live and Let Die” at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park, is available through Google Play, and will work in the cardboard headsets with several five-inch and six-inch Android phones.

“What’s happened is, since Google announced Cardboard, it’s shipped over 500,000,” Christensen said. “That dwarfs the number of headsets out there. We find that compelling.”

It’s still early days for virtual reality, but the angle for media startups like Jaunt is that getting ahead of the curve in a new, buzzy field will give it an edge over those who wait for the installed base of VR users to grow.

In addition to designing a camera for filming 360-degree VR movies, Jaunt develops the software that aspiring filmmakers can use to make those movies. Its other projects so far include a sci-fi monster battle video called “Kaiju Fury,” and an Elle fashion shoot with former “The Voice” contestant Jacquie Lee.

Christensen said he envisioned the technology being used for virtual travel, or even to inspect a hotel room before booking. But no, in case you’re wondering, he won’t be creating VR porn.

Here’s some video of the demo:

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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