Billy Corgan’s ‘Aeronaut’ Video Is A Surreal, Virtual Reality-Created Fever Dream

Just because Billy Corgan decided to strip things down to the bare basics on his latest album Ogilala, a piano and acoustic guitar-fueled collection that stands as one of his better offerings in years, doesn’t mean he’s lost any of his proclivity to get downright weird. If you need any evidence, look no further than his latest video for one of Ogilala’s standout tracks, a song titled “Aeronaut.”

To create the stunning visuals, a surreal landscape filled with swirling colors of green, red, purple and yellow, Corgan visited Microsoft’s Mixed Reality Capture Studios, where his performance of the song was captured in virtual reality by San Francisco artist and filmmaker, Danny Bittman. Through a joint collaboration with the Viacom NEXT and Isobar team, Bittman used the cutting edge Unity creation engine and Tilt Brush to create a world around him. This technology is currently unavailable for use by the public, but is expected to be released sometime next year.

As it stands now, the new “Aeronaut” video is actually a 2D preview of an anticipated immersive virtuality reality experience that Corgan is expected to put together for the entire Ogilala album. It’s the next step in his effort to expand the listening experience, after releasing a film in conjunction with it’s release last week. You can catch the stunning new visuals above.

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