Public Funding for Burland Studio Limited

Virtual Audience Acoustic Reality (VAAR) - 2Way Application is an innovative project that provides a Virtual Venue Interface (VVI) to the many initiatives that are being developed to support the sport and entertainment industry as it tries to recover from the effects of Covid 19 pandemic. The general need and parameters of the project have been defined from an earlier Innovate UK Grant (VAAR - Covid 19) awarded to the team to develop a conceptual design and business plan for a 2-Way truly immersive experience for a remote audience, that is not physically at the venue. The implications of doing this successfully are hugely significant on many levels, and go back to the Greeks approach to early government in connecting the masses, but are not currently within the reach of humanity. Technological advances are changing this. The vision of the initial project were therefore humble, based on enabling a remote individual or group to obtain a virtual ticket and enjoy an equally engaging live atmosphere from a music or sporting event delivered via a direct link from the venues sound and vision systems to receive a high quality blended real-time/ "live" experience. The requirements and feasibility of a unique platform and Interface to enable this experience to be shared across a number of social groups and with the artist (or athletes if sport) has been defined and the concept tested in the original programme. This project will take the output from this earlier work and create an exciting user friendly interface that participants can access events remotely, live, and in a way they can interact and be seen and heard in real-time. This offers exciting opportunities for emerging technology and new applications to be used in complementary ways. The Interface will be not only support our VAAR-Covid 19 project but also provide a gateway to other similar and complementary initiatives enabling users to be connected to hospitality (including food, beverage, and hired technology), and opportunities for merchandising and sponsorship. It is an opportunity with incredibly broad benefits. Further features of the Interface will promote agile engagement with entertainment and access to all areas. For sports clubs, players and artists outside of the core event it would not be possible to otherwise share what happens easily. Access to training sessions, rehearsals and other peripheral activities could be provided through the Interface. In this way it fosters greater loyalty and inclusiveness between performers, sports personalities and audiences, in a direct way not seen since the advent of the one way television broadcast. This Interface will revolutionise the way audiences can choose to access and enjoy live content, providing greater reach for audiences and artists and additional opportunities for revenue streams for smaller venues and lesser known artists.