Paul McCartney enters virtual reality with 3D concert app

Free app, plus home-made VR goggles, puts users in the middle of performance of 'Live and Let Die'

A 3D camera captured McCartney's performance in San Francisco (Jaunt)

Sir Paul McCartney has taken a daring leap into the world of virtual reality — launching a free app to watch one of the ex-Beatles recent concerts, that can be used with home-made goggles.

Virtual reality filmmakers Jaunt recorded McCartney’s recent performance of ‘Live and Let Die’ at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park in 3D. Users can download the free app and watch the whole performance, twisting their head to move around the stage.

The performance can be watched by downloading the app to an Android smartphone, and strapping on Google Cardboard — the company’s virtual reality goggles that can be made cheaply at home or bought online.

The company says that a version using the Oculus Rift on Mac and Windows will be coming soon.

“Feel as though you’re by Sir Paul’s side as he plays ‘Live and Let Die’,” Jaunt co-founder and head Jens Christensen wrote, announcing the app. “See it in 360-degree, stereoscopic 3D, hear it with ambisonic audio, and immerse yourself in cinematic VR. It’s like nothing you have seen, heard, or felt before.”

The film is shot using a 3D camera made up of a small box, with lenses peeking out of every side. That is then fed into computers that can edit the footage and assemble it into a 3D film.

Jaunt uses the hardware to make a range of films — other projects include a World War 2 film, a Godzilla-style action movie and a horror piece.

The company expects that virtual reality films could be as popular and fast-growing as mobile is today.

“The idea that you can transport yourself to another place in time in the real world, experience something through someone else’s eyes — that’s a very compelling thing,” Alex Taussig, one of Jaunt’s investors and board of directors told the LA Times. “If you’re a content creator, this is a new type of medium, similar to what film was when it first came out.”