The BBC has partnered with Bristol-based tech company Condense to engage with younger audiences via immersive live gigs.
Over the last year, BBC Radio 1’s New Music Show with Jack Saunders has been hosting an innovative series of immersive live gigs with artists like Gardna, Charlotte Plank and Sam Tompkins.
Each gig sees the artist perform in a “capture area” which ensures every movement is captured using Condense’s capture system. The performance is transformed, live into a 3D model and streamed into the virtual venue where it can be viewed from any angle.
Using Condense’s technology, the performances are captured and live-streamed as “true-to-life” video, with fans joining the live-stream as an avatar on their mobile or laptop. They can then move around the venue like a video game, enabling them to interact with each other live, from anywhere.
Condense’s technology also provides gives the BBC the option to pre-record performances and play them back “as live” to audiences in the virtual venue, allowing the broadcaster to experiment more with types of content and events that will benefit from pre-production.
“By partnering in this way, we can rapidly explore new ways to engage younger audiences who don’t regularly come to the BBC,” said Jeremy Walker, hWe can pioneer and shape the next evolution of content creation, and by investing in this Bristol-based startup, the BBC is backing British creativity, innovation, and technology.
Nick Fellingham, CEO of Condense added: “This partnership positions BBC audiences at the very forefront of the evolution of what it means to be a music fan in an age where people all over the world can now come together in-game to experience live music.”
