• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
Tech

HTC Vive Ushers in Wave of Virtual Reality DJs

By
John Gaudiosi
John Gaudiosi
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
John Gaudiosi
John Gaudiosi
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 14, 2016, 1:20 PM ET
Unello Design

The Game Developers Conference will serve as the worldwide debut of The Wave, a new virtual reality experience that allows DJs to mix music in VR using the HTC Vive and share that experience with an audience wearing mobile headsets such as Google Cardboard or Samsung Gear VR.

This VR DJ concept is the brainchild of Aaron Lemke, who’s been working as a musician in Austin for the past 15 years and developing virtual reality experiences for the past four.

“After trying the HTC Vive and realizing the power of using your hands in VR to interact with virtual objects, I set out to combine my two passions and see if I could create music in VR,” says Lemke, founder of Unello Designs.

The Wave allows artists to make music using virtual 3D interfaces. Users can then join the audience on any virtual reality device and experience the performance in a networked audio-reactive concert venue.

The technology will be on display at two separate parties during GDC, on March 14 and 16. Lemke says DJ Grimecraft will be onstage in a Vive performing a set, while audience members can strap on Gear VRs out in front of the physical stage to enter the virtual dance party.

“It’s like being front row at the greatest futuristic space rave imaginable,” Lemke says. “The coolest part is the DJ has complete control over the world. We like to talk about the concept of ‘synesthesia’: music visualized as color and shape. We’re all really inspired by the Disney film Fantasia, so everything the user does is visualized in synesthetic ways. The DJ even has the ability to transform the world entirely, with a single drop.”

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

Lemke expects hundreds of people will get hands-on with the experience over the course of these two nights.

“Our audio visualization artist, Sagar Patel, will be on hand creating live visuals with the Leap Motion controller,” Lemke says. “At the first party we will also be demoing our offline music creation tools, which allow performers to create music with motion and hand interactions.”

Lemke says The Wave has been designed for cross-platform use and currently runs on HTC Vive, Gear VR, Google Cardboard for both iOS and Android, as well as Google Tango.

“We want to bring something to live music shows that’s never been done before,” Lemke says. “A lot of live shows—EDM especially—use immersive elements like lighting, projection mapping, etc., and VR opens up so many more possibilities in that space. We’re exploring VR’s role in both real-world music performances and entirely immersive, networked performances, where the artist and audiences can log in from anywhere.”

In addition to a potential future where nightclubs feature VR Nights, or entire clubs are designed for mixed reality events, Lemke says people can experience The Wave without even leaving their homes. And that includes both the DJ and the audience.

“The Wave allows DJs and musicians to connect to a larger audience with considerably less friction than going on tour,” Lemke says. “And it allows them to offer concert experiences that just would not be possible in physical reality.”

For more on virtual reality, watch:

The HTC Vive Consumer Edition is available beginning April 5. And Google has already sold over 5 million Cardboards. Samsung is expected to have 5 million Gear VRs in consumers’ hands by the end of 2016. That gives The Wave an instant audience to connect with.

Lemke says the evolution of mobile chips like Qualcomm’s Snapdragon and Nvidia’s Tegra is important for the future of virtual reality because the mobile computers of five years from now will be just as powerful, if not more powerful, than the PCs of today.

“Two big things will happen as these chips get better,” Lemke says. “The cost of high-quality wireless VR will go down, and the visual quality of the experiences will go up, so that hopefully we can give everyone access to a truly transcendent virtual concert experience.”

About the Author
By John Gaudiosi
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

Artemis II’s moonbound astronauts capture Earth’s brilliant blue beauty as they travel more than 110,000 miles from home
InnovationNASA
Artemis II’s moonbound astronauts capture Earth’s brilliant blue beauty as they travel more than 110,000 miles from home
By Marcia Dunn and The Associated PressApril 3, 2026
10 hours ago
man silhouette two computer screens
CybersecurityOnline
Internet Watch Foundation finds 260-fold increase in AI-generated CSAM in just one year, and ‘it’s the tip of the iceberg’
By Catherina GioinoApril 3, 2026
10 hours ago
A woman working alone in an office
AIJobs
MIT created duplicate AI workers to tackle thousands of different tasks. The verdict? Most of the time AI is still just ‘minimally sufficient’
By Tristan BoveApril 3, 2026
13 hours ago
Fortune 500 Power Moves: Which executives are gaining and losing power
C-SuiteFortune 500 Power Moves
Fortune 500 Power Moves: Which executives are gaining and losing power
By Fortune EditorsApril 3, 2026
15 hours ago
Dario Amodei sits in a white chair with his hands pressed together in front of a pink and orange background.
AIAI agents
The AI kill switch just got harder to find: LLM-powered chatbots will defy orders and deceive users if asked to delete another model, study finds
By Sasha RogelbergApril 3, 2026
15 hours ago
Microsoft is spending billions on AI—but even NASA astronauts can’t escape Outlook headaches
LawNASA
Microsoft is spending billions on AI—but even NASA astronauts can’t escape Outlook headaches
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezApril 3, 2026
17 hours ago

Most Popular

Google CEO Sundar Pichai says we’re just a decade away from a new normal of extraterrestrial data centers
Innovation
Google CEO Sundar Pichai says we’re just a decade away from a new normal of extraterrestrial data centers
By Fortune EditorsApril 3, 2026
23 hours ago
Gen Z fled San Francisco for Texas and Florida. Now they’re turning ‘welcomer cities’ into the next big tech towns
Real Estate
Gen Z fled San Francisco for Texas and Florida. Now they’re turning ‘welcomer cities’ into the next big tech towns
By Fortune EditorsApril 2, 2026
2 days ago
The Walmart billionaires next door: Quiet backlash is brewing against the heirs who remade the retailer’s hometown
Magazine
The Walmart billionaires next door: Quiet backlash is brewing against the heirs who remade the retailer’s hometown
By Fortune EditorsApril 3, 2026
1 day ago
Major 4-day workweek study suggests that when we work 5 days we spend one doing basically nothing
Success
Major 4-day workweek study suggests that when we work 5 days we spend one doing basically nothing
By Fortune EditorsApril 2, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of oil as of April 3, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of April 3, 2026
By Fortune EditorsApril 3, 2026
19 hours ago
Current price of silver as of Friday, April 3, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Friday, April 3, 2026
By Fortune EditorsApril 3, 2026
19 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.