INDUSTRY. EXPERIENTIAL
movable walls. An immersive The Matrix - themed dance, music and VFX experience directed by Danny Boyle was the opening production last October. Theatre and music performances are being restaged and reinvented using technology-led mixed media. The War of the Worlds: The Immersive Experience uses VR to engross participants in Jeff Wayne’s HG Wells musical; ABBA Voyage is a triumph of holographic performance using technology from Disney’s VFX experts ILM. US theatre company Woolf and the Wondershow spent eight years developing the technology for rock
musical Cages , in which live performers interact with holographic characters created through intricate video mapping. Digital immersive exhibits are shaking up the traditional art world, too. Lightroom opens in King’s Cross this month with work by David Hockney. It’s a four-storey-high digital art space designed for cutting-edge projection. Frameless, in Marble Arch, is another. As The Guardian put it, “Frameless offers 90 minutes of Instagram-friendly, son et lumière experience across 30,000 sq ft of London bunker.” Co-curator Rosie O’Connor says: “Especially post-pandemic, people want that sense of connection and escapism. With all of us on our phones the whole time, I think we’re no longer able to just stand and look and get the same emotional connection.” Nothing says ‘wow’ louder than the screen itself, and the technology to deliver ultra-high-fidelity video to Imag or super- sized Imax-style screens is advancing all the time. Projection mapping turns any object into a display surface, enabling venues to ‘paint with light’. Further facilitating the digital experience are interactive displays for wayfinding, tables and video walls. These engage the visitor, amplify their experience and provide valuable data
“Projection mapping turns any object into a display surface, enabling venues to ‘paint with light’”
points for the venue owner to collect and retarget pundits with marketing. Now, 5G is set to supercharge venues with connectivity – and with it enable lots of previously impossible audience engagement and data tracking applications. For example, the next phase of the 5G rollout (5G Advanced) will mark a milestone for the scalability of navigation and wayfinding in public venues. This will open up real-time mixed reality experiences, such as giving fans accurate positioning information on football players. 5G will also enable the application of AI and ML tools to enhance the venue experience, changing the way guests perceive physical spaces. “Of course,” says Badosa, “there’s always a risk of overexposure when it comes to a new trend, but as long as we find a good balance, these experiences will continue to attract the public.”
VISUALISE A proposed MSG Sphere in London (top). See inside Outernet’s Now Building (above)
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