Words by Kevin Emmott
We no longer need to be together to have a shared experience, with people now consuming live content in a variety of ways. But this loses a large part of what makes live events so compelling: connection to the action. FEED explores how immersive audio invites us back in
ot that long ago, when something was live on TV you had to make time to see it. You had to show up and be physically present in front of the box. What if it was never shown again?
But live events are as much about feeling like we’re part of something bigger as they are about the actual content, and as we access more of our media on devices, we are increasingly disengaged both from the action and each other. In these environments, it is not what we see but what we hear that provides the connection. It’s no surprise that the desire for immersive or spatial audio is on the increase. FEELING THE CONNECTION According to Qualcomm’s latest State of Sound Report, spatial audio is the next ‘must-have’ feature. More than half of those surveyed claimed that “spatial audio will have an influence on their decision to buy their next pair of true wireless earbuds, and 41% said they would be willing to spend more for the feature.”
For many people, squeezing in front of the TV is still a worthwhile social activity, but widespread connectivity means it doesn’t have to be. Today, we have unfiltered access to whatever we want, whenever we want it, wherever we are. We don’t have to rush home from work to watch the World Cup final live on TV if we can watch it on the bus on a device we keep in our pockets. HOW COOL IS THAT? The irony is, in this increasingly connected world, more and more of us are consuming media content in a totally disconnected way.
feedmagazine.tv
Powered by FlippingBook