About ten years ago, Björn Sondermann placed a 360° camera on the floor of a stage during a thrash metal festival where he was performing with his German band, Assassin. He didn’t yet know what the best perspective would be; he was simply experimenting.

He later showed the recording to the mother of one of the band members. She was over 90 years old and had never been able to experience her son’s work at a metal festival. When she put on the headset, she felt as though she were there, on stage alongside the musicians.

For Björn, that reaction changed everything. He realized that virtual reality could do something traditional video could not: create a sense of emotional presence.

That moment set the course for the Assassin drummer, who is also a music teacher, VR experience creator and founder of We Are VR Music, a project he started during the pandemic. Among his projects is On-Stage VR Music, a series he developed and produced together with Jérôme Lozano in 2023 and 2024.

But behind the cameras, headsets and software lies a much more human concern: how to make someone feel something.

Not replacing reality, but experiencing it from within

After that first experience, Björn began testing different camera positions: above the stage, below it, from different points. Over time, he discovered that the most powerful perspective could also be the most natural: eye level.

That is where the viewer stops feeling like an observer from the outside and begins to feel present.

During the pandemic, he focused primarily on VR180, a format he considers particularly powerful for creating emotional connection because it naturally guides the viewer’s attention without sacrificing depth or presence.

But his goal has never been to replace live concerts.

Nothing, he says, can replace the energy of standing in front of a live band. VR offers something different: the possibility of standing next to the singer, behind the drummer, or in places on stage that would normally be inaccessible to the audience.

When he watched Apple’s immersive Metallica experience, he felt he was seeing something he had been exploring for years brought to life: standing next to James Hetfield or behind Lars Ulrich is not simply about having a better view. It means feeling like you are part of the concert.

Learning from the musician’s perspective

As a drum teacher, Björn discovered another dimension of immersion. Learning an instrument is not only about practicing; it also means observing hand movements, posture, stick angles, timing and coordination.

During the pandemic, he began experimenting with first-person drum recordings and brought a demonstration to Pearl Drums to explore what learning from the drummer’s own perspective could feel like.

The difference from traditional video was clear. The student could virtually take the musician’s place.

But for Björn, the most important thing is not simply learning the movements. When you stand where the musician stands, you begin to understand what it feels like to play. The atmosphere, the energy, and the connection with other musicians and the audience.

That is where technology becomes more than an educational tool: it can create empathy and inspiration.

A technology for preserving emotions

Björn also sees virtual reality as a way to preserve cultural moments. He discovered this while recording a small blues band using vintage instruments, old amplifiers and immersive audio.

When he returns to those recordings, he doesn’t simply feel that he is listening to a song. It is almost like returning to that room. For him, that turns VR into a kind of time capsule.

The same possibility could apply to Assassin. Decades from now, someone might not only listen to the band’s songs, but put on a headset and experience what it was like to stand on stage with the band and feel the energy of the audience.

Technology would preserve not only the music, but the feeling of having been there.

From capturing reality to creating impossible worlds

His work has also expanded into CGI, 3D compositing and tools such as Blender, Unreal Engine and DaVinci Resolve. Björn imagines experiences where a band could perform while an entire building explodes around them, with particles and objects moving through space in rhythm with the music, while viewers explore the environment and discover their own perspectives.

Yet even as he recognizes the potential of artificial intelligence and increasingly sophisticated tools, he continues to value the hands-on process: understanding the cameras, experimenting, making mistakes and finding that small adjustment that makes something work.

Technology can accelerate creation, but for him, creative decisions, collaboration and emotion remain deeply human.

That is why his vision for the future of VR is not about replacing concerts or helping people escape reality.

It is about curiosity, inspiration and connection.

If, after putting on a headset, someone wanted to pick up a pair of drumsticks, discover a new genre of music, or look at a musician on stage differently, Björn would consider the experience a success.

Because the best virtual reality is not necessarily the one that makes us forget the real world.

It is the one that makes us want to return to it with a different perspective.

And perhaps that is the best way to understand his journey: after years of playing with Assassin, teaching music and exploring technology, Björn is not using VR to move us away from reality, but to bring us closer to music, artists, other eras and experiences we might otherwise never have.

Technology can build the world, but emotions are what make us want to enter it.

Connect with We Are VR Music:

To learn more about Björn and the work of We Are VR Music, visit: https://www.youtube.com/c/WeareVRMUSIC

You can also connect with Björn on LinkedIn to follow his work: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bj%C3%B6rn-sondermann-b6b05692/