philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Virtual reality unleashes full power of top UK orchestra

London's Royal Festival Hall is putting visitors center-stage with one of the world's top orchestras, using cutting-edge technology amid claims it will transform the arts and entertainment industries.

Virtual-reality (VR) headsets and a cylindrical bank of speakers deliver the full force of the Philarmonia Orchestra's performance of Mahler's Third Symphony,

Visitors can turn their head and focus on any musician, or toe-tapping members of the audience, from their vantage point in-front of Finnish conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen.

A performance of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony moves in between each section of the orchestra, giving close-up views of musicians as the conductor brings them in.

The orchestra hopes the project will help open new audiences to classical music.

The set-up can be recreated off-site, meaning live performances could be potentially beamed into cinemas, while schoolchildren could wander through world-class orchestras and watch maestros at work.

"We could pack it into a van, take it to a school and build it in a couple of hours, then a class of 30 kids have a group experience." explained Ritchie.

See the full story here: http://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2018/09/29/virtual-reality-unleashes-full-power-of-top-uk-orchestra.html

and here: https://phys.org/news/2018-09-virtual-reality-unleashes-full-power.html