Have you ever run into someone that you sort of know on a street halfway across the world? There’s something magical and fun about the serendipity. A neighbor you might ignore in your elevator you are suddenly ecstatic to see on the streets of London.

Oculus Venues has captured that magic with their social seating.

Social seating is brilliant in its simplicity. You get seated next to friends, friends of friends, or people with common interests and then enjoy a performance together, live in VR.

Last week was the first Oculus Venues performance, a Vance Joy show from Red Rock. I had a dozen friends of friends attending with me. Facebook seated me next to people they thought I might like to know, and it was actually fun to talk to them.

The show was in 3DOF with a virtual seating area and live video via NextVR. There was no game to play. You were simply present with other people enjoying a show. ??And it works.

Venues doesn’t smack you over the head with their social features. They are seamlessly discovered, and it was just as joyful as a random neighbor on the street encounter.

Check out the next show for a look at some great social VR.