- Jack Daniel’s Enhances Fandom Experiences on Spatial: The American whisky brand’s first immersive virtual reality (VR) experience is a metaverse debut, The Verse, for Jack Honey Art, Beats & Lyrics, its travelling urban art and music exhibition. The initiative celebrates Black culture and honours Jack Daniel’s heritage: its first master distiller in the 19th century was a formerly enslaved Black man, Nathan Green, who taught founder Jack Daniel his craft.
Hosted on the arts and culture metaverse platform Spatial, The Verse aligns with 2023’s 50th anniversary of hip-hop (see more on The Brief) and the cultural ascendancy of Afrofuturism, a reframing and exploration of African culture, incorporating science fiction and hyperrealism. (Stylus’ content director Katie Baron unpacks its relevancy here.) An intergalactic showcase of more than 30 Black and diverse artists, accessible via mobile, desktop or VR headset, The Verse’s virtual art gallery links to creators’ social media profiles.
Reflecting the rise of supercharged virtual fan experiences (explored in Evolving Entertainment, Music & Broadcasting in Moving the Metaverse On), The Verse hosted a live virtual performance on September 28 by Brooklyn fusion band Phony Ppl. Video footage of the musicians performing was fed into AI-powered motion capture technology which then created the group’s avatars, mirroring the human movements in real time. Attendees could interact through a chatbot and also sign up for a virtual meet-and-greet with the band.
Audience avatars also had the option to visit a virtual bar for some world-weaving shopping, clicking on a virtual bartender to access the Jack Daniel’s e-commerce site for home delivery.