Other than an increase in screen resolution, at-home entertainment hasn’t really changed too much over the last decade.
3D viewing experiences never took off at home, partly due to the cost associated with producing the content and party due to the inability to ‘wow’ in a smaller living room viewing scenario. Surround Sound home theatres remained confined to the realm of those wealthy enough to have a dedicated media room and remote controls have largely remained clunky and confusing, for almost everyone… The only real reason to get a new TV at home was to go 4K or because you wanted a Smart TV with Netflix, Apple TV and Disney+ etc all built in, otherwise almost everyone is happy with the TV they have.
This plateau in TV tech over the years has meant that if you want a really immersive experience, you’d buy a ticket; to a concert, a show, or a sporting event. The only real way to get that immersion was to actually be there. However the ‘live’ experience is actually riddled with negatives, we all overlook them because we are just happy to be there, but there are some serious inadequacies.
Before we look at real world examples I want to clarify that nothing can take away the fun and commradary of going to any event with a bunch of friends. Some of my best memories are with friends at concerts and festivals, so please don’t think I’m knocking that… What we’re considering here is the scenario for the die hard fan, wanting the best experience they can pay for.
Let’s consider a few examples; starting with the football game.
Awesome! We’ve arrived at the stadium, yes the drive was an hour, and I’m probably going to regret that hot dog tomorrow, and yes the beer was overpriced and not my favourite brand, but hey! I’m at the game! For many, the sheer excitement of being in a stadium with friends and fellow fans is more than enough to excuse the slight annoyances associated with going to a giant stadium for any reason. But for some real die-hard fans, watching a game is often better at home, because of the commentary, the replays, the camera angles being exactly where you need them, or the close up shots that you wouldn’t be able to get in the audience. Plus, the ability to pause live TV for a toilet break, or being able to eat the food you want at home, all sit in the “pro” column. Bear with me, I’m not ripping on live sports, but I do have a point… keep reading.
Now let’s think about a live music gig, or a festival.
Again, a lot of the fun associated with events like this is being around friends and other fans or the drinking culture that goes hand in hand with festivals. I’m not knocking that at all. I’m obsessed with live shows, I’ve seen almost every musical on Broadway, been to almost 100 festivals, seen Prince perform live 13 times and have ruined more pairs of chucks than you could imagine from moshing in grubby little back alley gigs. I’d regularly go to 2 or 3 gigs a week growing up. However, one fact remains. Never has the audio been that good. Never has the view been that good. (I booked tickets for Coldplay later this year, and I was waiting on the Ticketmaster website to go live to get good seats, I got tickets around 2 minutes after they opened and the best seat I could get was row 22, block C. I’m pretty confident that’s not a great seat!) Once again, buying the Blu-Ray of a live show is often the best way to experience your favourite artist. Taylor Swift proved this with her recent sell-out cinematic release of her show. Fans were able to go watch her “live” but in their local cinema. These kids were now front row, with a properly mastered Dolby Atmos soundtrack.
But what about the Formula 1?
The F1, in my opinion is the biggest problem area that needs addressing, because of the nature of the event. If you’ve ever been to the race you’ll know that 95% of your day is spent not seeing a car. Then, for a split second… zeeewwwwwmmmmm…. a car zips past at 150kmh, if you’re lucky you saw it, but you were probably not looking in the right direction to get any form of excitement from it going past. Ultimately, the best way to watch the F1 on site, is to pay for a VIP ticket, and enjoy canapes in a lounge somewhere away from the track, watching the game… on… a… TV… Yes, this is literally how almost all rich folks watch the F1. Everyone else is sat in the sweltering sun, waiting for the cars to zoom past for a split second, and then they are all back to watching the giant outdoor screen until they come around again. Honestly, it’s not really that much fun. Let’s not even talk about the annoyance of trying to get home after any of these live events either…
So what is the future of fun?
By now you know the Apple Vision Pro is here, and whilst this device is expensive, it’s made the point to everyone that headset based entertainment is here to stay. There are a few other far more affordable headsets that all support similar styles of entertainment viewing, but primarily the Apple Vision Pro is acting as the catalyst to drive consumers to want to consume immersive, high quality entertainment in the comfort of their own home. Yes all these headsets are bulky, but when you consider that this is as bad as it’s going to be…. the quality is only going to get better, the price is only going to come down, and the size of the headsets will, eventually, be the size of sunglasses… the future of fun looks to be very much, on our faces.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, nothing can beat the general good vibes of hanging out with friends going to a game or concert, but when it comes to something you’re truly passionate about, I believe we’re going to see a shift towards more at-home/on-face viewing.
Apple are already working on “group view” which will allow you and your friends to all watch the same thing in the same room to ensure we don’t become an insular and lonely species, and once these devices are the size of sunglasses you can start to see the future of fun looks like it could be pretty exciting. Grab a few beers and meet in the lounge room. Put on the your Vision Pro glasses and voila, the football stadium appears on the dining table. You’ve brought the experience to your most comfortable environment and your friends are with you. That could be a very, very cool to way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
As we see stadiums, studios and producers jump on this new style of content and entertainment creation, we’re excitingly poised for the Future of Fun to be more immersive than you could ever imagine.