Patchworld: Trippy jam sessions with friends for Meta Quest & PC VR
Patchworld is a studio with homemade instruments, a social meeting place, a world builder, and a discovery platform. All this in VR.
The link is musical performance. The upcoming VR app promises more than 200 interchangeable modules. That includes a range of instruments, visual effects, and environments. The game features entirely hand-based interaction and play.
A platform coming later will let you share self-created worlds and sounds with others, or download and try them out yourself if you just want to hang out and relax. If all this freedom is too much for you, you can use pre-made environments and sounds to create audiovisual albums.
Making music: Together or with yourself
At launch, Patchworld only offers soloists a stage. A collaborative multiplayer mode is in the works. In the meantime, use a clone function to create action loops of yourself and jam with your virtual selves in underwater caves. This might look something like the following trailer.
The VR app supports 3D audio and stereo mixdown, as well as connectivity to MIDI and OSC interfaces. For streamers, it offers features for live shows and production of futuristic music videos.
Patchworld: Quest version coming soon
Patchworld is developed by PatchXR, a studio founded by VR artist Mélodie Mousset and animation professional Eduardo Fouilloux. Musicians and artists from all over the world tested the tools in a closed beta and at festivals. Following the unveiling of the VR app in the spring, it will be released on July 7, 2022 for Meta Quest 2. A PC VR version is also on the roadmap.
Patchworld follows in the footsteps of other music-focused virtual reality apps like the somewhat older Electronauts and the recently released Virtuoso (review). It could offer more audiovisual freedom than those two - if the studio delivers on its promises.
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