BILLY CORGAN ANNOUNCES FIRST-EVER VIRTUAL REALITY EXPERIENCE FOR NEW SOLO ALBUM “OGILALA”
Two-time GRAMMY Award winning artist Billy Corgan previewed today an immersive new VR experience for his new single “Aeronaut” off the recently released solo album “Ogilala.” The project is a collaboration between Corgan and teams at Isobar and Viacom NEXT, which partnered with San Francisco based filmmaker and VR artist Danny Bittman to conceive the virtual world depicted in the production. Accompanying the experience is a 2D VR music video released today by BMG Records, produced by Isobar and Viacom NEXT. The VR experience for Aeronaut that will be available in early 2018: Aeronaut VR.
“Aeronaut” is one of the first to feature a hologram created with Microsoft Mixed Reality Capture technology, used to capture Corgan’s performance in volumetric video, while incorporating innovative technologies from Google and Unity Technologies.
This 2D (Web, TV, Mobile, etc) content was created inside the 3D world that was imagined by San Francisco artist and filmmaker, Danny Bittman and brought to life by the joint Viacom NEXT and Isobar team. By capturing Corgan’s three-and-a-half-minute performance in volumetric video at Microsoft’s Mixed Reality Capture Studios, Isobar, Viacom and Bittman, were able to use the Unity creation engine and Tilt Brush to create a world around him.
Said Chaki Ng, Senior Vice President and Head of Viacom NEXT: “Aeronaut was a thrilling collaboration, bringing together innovators from across the VR industry to realize an incredible artistic vision. We’re honored to bring this experience to life, and help connect audiences to Mr. Corgan’s music unlike ever before.”
Said Dave Meeker, VP, Isobar US: “Orchestrating this entire venture has been nothing short of inspiring. “This project allowed us the opportunity to bring together some of the most technical and creative minds in the industry to help us realize Corgan’s vision. When we first sat down with Billy over a year ago, we had only imagined an experience where we could bring all these players to the table. The collaborative spirit that has driven the making of this video is a testament to the excitement we all have for the future of immersive experiences.”
The project is designed for room scale systems, initially for Microsoft’s Mixed Reality headsets, with additional versions for other systems to follow. It will be available to the public in early 2018.
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Music Credits
Music by William Patrick Corgan
Produced by Rick Rubin
Record Co.: Martha’s Music/BMG
Video Credits
Directed by David Liu and Rob Ruffler for Viacom NEXT
Produced by Isobar and Viacom NEXT
Executive Producers:
Geoff Cubitt and Dave Meeker for Isobar
Chaki Ng, Rob Ruffler and David Liu for Viacom NEXT
Tilt Brush Animation and Art Direction by Danny Bittman
Made with Unity
Mr. Corgan’s performance was captured at the Microsoft Mixed Reality Capture Studio in Redmond, WA.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Brian Bumbery
BB Gun Press [For Billy Corgan]
brian@bbgunpress.com
Jackie Berte
Isobar
jackie.berte@isobar.com
Alex Rindler
Viacom
alex.rindler@viacom.com
About William Patrick Corgan
William Patrick Corgan is a singer, songwriter, producer, and frontman of celebrated alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. Formed in Chicago, IL in 1988, the band released their heralded debut album Gish in 1991 and found mainstream success with 1993’s 4x multi-platinum Siamese Dream and 1995’s 10x multi-platinum Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Following the band’s 2000 dissolution, Corgan helmed the alternative rock band Zwan before releasing his debut solo album TheFutureEmbrace and reforming The Smashing Pumpkins in 2005. With over 30 million albums sold, the GRAMMY®, MTV VMA, and American Music Award winning band remains an influential force in alternative rock.
About Isobar
Isobar is a global full service digital agency, driven by the purpose to deliver borderless ideas enabled by technology, to transform businesses and brands. We have over 6,000 digital pioneers in more than 85 locations. Isobar has won over 250 awards in 2016, including 19 Agency of the Year titles and Asia-Pacific Digital Network of the Year for the fifth time in the past six years. Key clients include adidas, Coca-Cola, Enterprise Holdings, GM, Huawei, LEGO and P&G. Isobar is part of the Dentsu Aegis Network, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dentsu Inc. www.isobar.com
About Viacom NEXT
Viacom NEXT is working on the future of entertainment. We explore, prototype and develop novel projects with our brands (which include MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, Paramount Pictures and BET) and with external partners including startups, academics (e.g., MIT, CMU, and major NYC universities via the NYC Media Lab) as well as creators, artists, and musicians. With a focus on Virtual Reality, we are making room-scale interactive music experiences, narrative worlds, games, and exploring live-action capture techniques. Visit us online at http://viacomnext.com
