Immersive Tech Week is an event “where creativity, innovation, business, research, and art meet to connect and explore the possibilities of immersive technologies and their impact on our planet, culture, and society.” The event landed at de Doelen in Rotterdam from 28 November to 2 December.
The opener this time was something unique. We joined forces with innkeeper.eth, which hosts regular events in the metaverse and live-streamed online, plus hybrid events held in cross-reality. PatchWorld “headlined” with a hybrid DJ set/performance powered by Meta, streamed to a hybrid party at the Inn Club in Decentraland, all sponsored by Meta Switzerland.
What that means in practice: our own Gad Baruch Hinkis was on hand to demonstrate that you can absolutely DJ/VJ with a Meta Quest Pro headset and PatchWorld and set dancefloors on fire.
“This is like my third or fourth show, and I think every time it gets a bit bigger and better,” says Gad. Pairing up for a cross-reality party was a no-brainer for us, Gad says, adding the creative live performance power of PatchWorld to Innkeeper’s long-running experience in this new medium. (There’s even an NFT drop at each event.)
“It’s got three layers of reality,” says Gad, “a live event with a live performance, an artist playing live in VR on PatchWorld, and then the whole thing streamed into Decentraland so people can join from a Web browser. And of course, people can also join in multiplayer in PatchWorld.”
“I think what I’m excited about most is these live shows demonstrate what PatchWorld can do as a live performance tool for electronic music,” Gad says. “We cracked this holy grail of having the infinite possibilities of digital, but with something tactile and immediate and fun – the playful, full-body expression of hardware.”
“I had this moment when I was on that stage during sound check where I was like, I’m playing live improvised electronic music and I’m at the level of tweaking the envelope of the pitch of the bass drum. And oh my God, I can finally express myself and tweak and live mix and it’s all instant.”
That really focuses the attention of our team both on inspiration and on creating these layers of content that enrich the solo and multiplayer experience with more features and possibilities; Gad tells us, “continuing to create an ecosystem of instruments that are easy to use.
You’ll be seeing more content and more events from us - in PatchWorld multiplayer and IRL - as this potential continues to grow. And if you want to check out innkeeper.eth, they’ve got events online you can catch from anywhere, plus regular in-person events in Amsterdam.
Photos by SNAPBOYZ.
