When is the last time you’ve listened to an entire music album with complete full attention? That is, when have you sat down, relaxed, put your CD/vinyl/tape/Your Favorite Streaming Service and just do nothing but enjoy The Music? Since I haven’t done this in quite a while, and I assume most people haven’t either, I’ve been considering inviting people over to listen to an LP instead of watching a movie. We could also have popcorn. And beer.

Regardless, the guys at Harmonix (Guitar Hero, Dance Central), have been also thinking about it, and they are about to release a Virtual Reality system to enhance the Music experience, such that people get more excited to experience “just music.” They call this project Music VR, and it turns out they are using some technology I developed for them a couple of years ago! They employed a few MIR researchers to write algorithms to detect beat, onset, and large-scale structure. I’m excited to have contributed to this project, and can’t wait to try it our with a pair of VR glasses.

Research power!