Technology, gaming and virtual reality industry

This project focuses on developing software that co-locates geographically-remote musicians and audiences within virtual spaces (either historically-recreated or fictional) to perform and spectate.

This project has a commercial potential.

The research will provide insights in the role of auditory feedback in supporting immersion/presence within virtual spaces in commercial contexts within gaming and virtual reality (VR).

As an emerging technology, VR is currently concerned with systems of control, visualization, and movement, particularly around motion sickness and sound has therefore been somewhat neglected.

Nonetheless, it offers enormous potential to situate users within spaces and we hope to be able to contribute to this.

This project will lead to software that could be produced for cultural and heritage sites, both as interactive on-site installations and online platforms.

It also has the potential to lead to

• fully commercial products that similarly exploit new-found immersion techniques,
• games, educational, or music industry packages which seek to exploit the ability for dislocated musicians to perform collaboratively in convincing historical (or fictional but convincing) performance spaces.

In the Binchois Consort, the RSNO, and heritage spaces like St Cecilia's Hall and Linlithgow Palace, we have access to established networks of potential users.

Impact activities

Find out how the project encourages active engagement with partners from the national technology sector in the three disciplines of

• Early Music,
• sonic interaction design,
• and physical, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) computing.