Immersive virtual entertainment system

A non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

• accessing a plurality of cameras and a plurality of microphones associated with a live event to be presented in a virtual reality space;
• generating a virtual reality space for a virtual event based on event data for the live event including an audio input from the plurality of microphones and a video input from the plurality of cameras;
• generating, in the virtual reality space, a plurality of virtual seats including a plurality of virtual views from which the virtual event may be viewed;
• receiving profiles for each participant of a group of related participants of a plurality of participants;
• generating a plurality of images for each participant of the group of related participants according to each profile for each participant of the plurality of participants to participate in the virtual event in the virtual reality space, wherein equipment of each participant presents a virtual view of the plurality of virtual views of the virtual reality space in a virtual reality format;
• receiving activity information for each participant of the group of related participants including a participant field of view and participant social information;
• manipulating the plurality of images in the virtual reality space according to the activity information;
• and
• adjusting the virtual reality space for the virtual event by removing, from the virtual reality space, images of an audience captured in the images so that the audience is not depicted in the virtual reality space and by adding avatars that are each representative of one participant of the group of related participants.

A method, comprising:

• accessing, by a processing system comprising a processor, a respective profile for each respective participant of a group of related participants of a plurality of participants in a virtual event that corresponds to a real event having an audience;
• configuring, by the processing system, a virtual reality space for the group of related participants to participate in the virtual event;
• generating, by the processing system, a virtual venue for the virtual reality space, wherein the generating the virtual venue comprises:
• generating a plurality of virtual stores for the virtual venue, wherein each respective virtual store of the plurality of virtual stores is associated with a respective participant, wherein each respective virtual store is generated according to each respective profile for each respective participant, the virtual venue and the virtual event;
• accessing, by the processing system, a plurality of cameras and a plurality of microphones associated with the real event;
• generating a plurality of virtual seats including virtual views from which a participant can view the virtual event;
• generating a plurality of images for each participant of the group of related participants according to each profile for each participant of the group of related participants to participate in the virtual event;
• generating, by the processing system, an adjusted virtual reality space for the virtual event by substituting avatars that are each representative of one of the group of related participants for the audience captured in the images so that the audience is not depicted in the virtual reality space;
• and
• providing, by the processing system, to each respective participant of the group of related participants, a respective virtual view of the virtual event.