\n
The shared internet infrastructure at Big Weekend quickly became a bottleneck, which severely limited our ability to stream the performances in the Portal. We resolved this by securing a direct-to-ISP line with the dedicated bandwidth that we needed.<\/p>\n
Condense also worked to reduce our internet demands from 500mbps to 100mbps \u2013 with the potential to go as low as 50mbps. This breakthrough, achieved by moving the data compression algorithm from the cloud to a local rack-mounted GPU server, was key to making our capture rig mobile and ready to stream.<\/p>\n
Another issue was camera placement. Our cameras demand precise positioning and stability, but moments before going live, a camera was knocked and affected the capture. We negotiated a two-minute window between DJ sets – unheard of on dance stages – to recalibrate. This meant we could fix this when it happened and let us keep the stream running.<\/p>\n
While in real life haze is essential for light effects on stage, it interferes with our depth-sensing cameras. We were able to switch off the haze effects on the last day to unlock the clearest depth-sensing performance yet for our virtual audience. Combined with a stable rig, this gave us the clearest insight yet into our system\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n
What we\u2019ve learned – in the rig, less is more<\/h2>\n From our trials at Radio 1\u2019s Big Weekend, we have now defined an immersive festival spec, ready to guide future outdoor events.<\/p>\n
The rig performs best in a 2x2m square and accommodates one to two band members. The available resolution gets split across whoever and whatever is in the rig, so more surface area to capture will lead to reduced quality.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Royel Otis performing live on Radio 1 and via The Portal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
Pictured above are Royel Otis with their guitars and pedalboards. We discovered elements like guitar pedalboards on the floor introduce technical challenges as they result in many small polygons that create visual noise and makes compression more difficult. Learnings fed back into product improvements, as well helping us determine which music acts make for a good representation of the technology.<\/p>\n
Volumetric video: Making it practical<\/h2>\n We describe the volumetric capture rig as a\u00a0\u2018production\u00a0kit in a box\u2019 – equipped to film, capture audio and provide lighting. The rig includes ten depth-sensing cameras to capture RGB and depth data around each performer, processed in real time by mini-PCs and a rack-mounted GPU server to create a live 3D mesh.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
The volumetric capture rig set up at the BBC’s Maida Vale studios.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
Volumetric video has long been costly and complicated, and streaming it live is challenging since compression standards do not yet exist. Condense\u2019s compression algorithm delivers volumetric video in a fraction of a second, a breakthrough in real-time 3D capture and streaming. We worked with them to develop mesh and texture compression pipelines which could potentially inform standards in the future.<\/p>\n
Our insights: Accessibility and engagement<\/h2>\n Throughout the project, we\u2019ve consistently heard these immersive experiences help overcome barriers – whether age, geography, finances, or social circumstances – that prevent audiences from seeing their favourite artists or attending nightclubs and festivals. At Radio 1\u2019s Big Weekend, virtual attendees described the powerful emotional and social impact of feeling like they\u2019d seen their favourite DJs live and experienced a real festival. This was intensified by the noise of the live crowd – something repeatedly mentioned as enhancing authenticity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Also, we use browser-based experiences to expand impact. While VR offers exciting possibilities, not everyone owns a VR headset, and optimising for browser-based experiences accessed via laptops and mobile devices ensures a broader audience can take part, making the technology more relevant and inclusive.<\/p>\n
Reimagining audience connection<\/h2>\n These events layer traditional live radio and TV with immersive\u00a0experiences, to create hybrid experiences that extend beyond physical spaces. This is pioneering innovation, setting new standards and reimagining BBC content in ways that truly resonate with audiences in the online, social, and connected spaces and places where they already live. Audiences can explore, interact, and feel part of a community while performers are captured authentically.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re continuing to learn, experiment, and create immersive experiences that we hope to bring to you soon\u2026 music is only the beginning!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
A comparison – Gigi Perez performing in person in the rig, and how the experience appears in the Portal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
\n
We\u2019re partnering with forward-thinking teams inside and outside the BBC on the Future World Design and we\u2019re always looking for partners with bold ideas for strategic commercial collaborations at the intersection of media, tech and culture.<\/p>\n
If you have a commercial opportunity we should be working on next, contact us at\u00a0fwd@bbc.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \n \n <\/svg>\n<\/div><\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.bbc.co.uk \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published: 10 December 2025 Immersive technology is changing how people experience live events – especially for those who can\u2019t attend in person. We\u2019ve been exploring how it could bring audiences closer to music in new, more inclusive ways. Inclusion is very important to the BBC, and so our focus has been on how use this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2339877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2363944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Reimagining-live-music-for-younger-audiences.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2363944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2363944"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2363944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2363945,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2363944\/revisions\/2363945"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2339877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2363944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2363944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2363944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}