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The Who Get Immersive with New Oculus Rift App

Here's how you can celebrate The Who's 50th anniversary—in virtual reality.

All images taken from The Who Immersive App 

The Who are no strangers to the ambitious dream of fusing music and technology. For 1971's abandoned album Lifehouse, guitarist-songwriter Pete Townshend envisioned a future dystopia dominated by the Grid, a proto-Internet that simulates all human experience. Up against this wired, extrasensory existence comes a hacker and pirate radio host who creates technology that allows people to find music using personal data.

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While The Who are well past the days that led to Lifehouse, their tech-music ambition still holds: in collaboration with Universal Music and the developer Immersive, the band created The Who Immersive App, a virtual tie-in to their The Who Hits 50! compilation album.

“The Who Immersive App is a living, breathing, virtual Whoseum full of the energy, outrageous musicality and rebelliousness of The Who,” the band announced today on their website. “Download the app for free and enter a 3D world modelled [sic] on famous landmarks and moments in the life of the band that gave Rock and Roll the kudos of representing the teenager within everyone,” the post states

As the band explained, the initial immersive app will be available on iOS and Android smartphones, with an Oculus Rift app to come in 2015 when their consumer headset hits the market. Smartphone users who download the app will be able to stream or purchase audio or video to “the interactive backdrop of rare and unseen images along with artwork and artefacts from the last 50 years.”

Hopefully the immersive app will even include virtual videos of The Who's infamous drummer Keith Moon partaking in some anarchic revelry—otherwise, we'll have to ask Who's Missing?

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