#196 - Well fancy
Hello
Lots of extended reality tech cleverness in this edition. How do they do it? It's awfully clever. Plus there's some talking, some money, and some poetry. Enjoy.
Rap lyrics in augmented reality. Volodymyr Kurbatov has made "a spatial music experience with a focus on lyrics and without fancy visual effects. This is an AR app made using Unity MARS. Art is placed automatically in suitable areas".
Panels and discussions
Are we funding this digital pivot the right way? "a panel of leaders discuss how business models need to change, as we move into the next phase of our pandemic, tech-driven, creative future".
Leaders Reframe False Dichotomies: Content Creators vs. Owners. Audrey Bergauer's write up of some roundtables discussing "limited revenue streams, narrow customer base, inadequate cash reserves, and a lagging digital presence" with lots of digital-related stuff.
What's the future of live theater beyond COVID-19?: A point-counterpoint between Audrey Cefaly and Elliott Bales. "What follows is an extraordinary conversation". A playwright and an actor/business consultant have an exchange of views.
VR/AR/XR
Dream is a "live, online performance set in a virtual midsummer forest" from the RSC, Manchester International Festival, Marshmallow Laser Feast and the Philharmonia. It looks well fancy and there are free tickets available.
The Met Unframed is an "immersive virtual art and gaming experience". It features "more than a dozen one-of-a-kind digitally rendered galleries and nearly 50 works of art from across The Met's vast collection".
Yelena Rachitsky asked "Which companies are creating interesting Virtual Reality events/concert platforms beyond The Wave, Altspace and VR Chat?" and got some good replies.
Twenty immersive projects revealed at Digital Catapult and Arts Council England’s CreativeXR Showcase and Market "As the pandemic increases the demand for at-home entertainment, several teams have created experiences which require minimal equipment to be accessed at home".
Mixed Reality in Cultural Heritage. A new podcast hosted by Dr. Mariza Dima, a Mixed Reality designer and lecturer in Creative Technology for Games at Brunel University London.
Beyond the early adopter: widening the appeal for virtual reality. "How the cultural industries can increase the adoption of immersive technologies for mainstream audiences". By Catherine Allen for the Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre.
Miscellaneous
Digital Collaboration Fund | British Council. "Here are the organisations from the UK and selected countries overseas who've been granted up to £50k to collaborate digitally on international projects".
Northern Ballet Awarded £600k for Digital Projects. The Garfield Weston Foundation announced some funding and it sounds like a few organisations have big digital plans - this being the biggest I've come across.
Channel 4 sets out path to digital future with new strategy. "The Future4 strategy will drive towards two clear objectives over the next five years: to double the viewing to All 4 and to deliver 30% of total revenues from digital advertising and 10% from non-advertising".
Verse by Verse is an "experimental AI-powered muse that helps you compose poetry inspired by classic American poets". From Google AI.
And that brings our show to a close. Thanks for reading, please share the good stuff, and there'll be more coming your way… soon-ish. Probably in a week or two.
Chris Unitt
PS: I have a thing to plug. On 23 Feb, the Insights Alliance (Baker Richards, Indigo Ltd and One Further) present the latest findings from our Culture Restart Toolkit. I'll be picking out what the most recent results are telling us about appetite for digital culture. Sign up here.
Coach. Digital training for culture professionals.
If you'd like some tips on how to make the best use of a Google Ad Grant then I'm doing a freebie session on 23 Feb. Come along.