Today, we’re incredibly excited to announce a new partnership and investment deal with the BBC. The BBC is one of the world's most well respected media organisations. To have their backing is a huge endorsement of Condense’s vision, team and market potential.
This investment forms part of our strategy to partner with and empower content owners to create incredible live virtual events. We’ll be kicking off with a regular series for BBC Radio 1’s New Music Show with Jack Saunders, as well as exploring opportunities in sport, education, news and more.
Taking live music up a gear.
Condense’s technology enables the BBC to stream true-to-life live performances into game-like virtual spaces so that anyone can be part of a live event wherever they are. Traditionally, broadcasting was passive, but now users can actually be part of the experience. That’s great for the BBC’s mission to reach and engage younger audiences.
We’re a deeptech company - what’s been great is that the BBC’s audience experience and design teams have embraced the Condense platform and have created an incredible virtual space - The New Music Portal. As one of the most well respected media organisations in the world, the BBC have a long history of pioneering new forms of trusted content and accessibility. This new scheduling of Condense-enabled live 3D events online brings a new level of authenticity, engagement and accessibility to their programming.
Live from the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios.
For music artists, getting in the virtual world is easy. They simply walk into the capture area that’s set up in the BBC’s Maida Vale Studios and they are picked up by the Condense camera array. Condense’s algorithms combine all of the feeds into a single 3D video which is then compressed and streamed into the game environment where it can be watched from any angle.
There is a large screen in front of the artists which allows them to see into the virtual world and interact with the avatars who are attending the event. Fans attending can share emotes with their favourite artist, break out some moves. The Condense platform also allows partners to integrate chat and voice - you can actually talk to artists, and artists can see your avatar name and do shout outs.
The BBC’s New Music Portal experience is accessible via a web browser on your phone or laptop. Users can join, customise their avatar and then enter the virtual venue. Once they are in the experience they are able to walk around and explore the virtual world. The performers are streamed into the game using Condense’s proprietary technology where they can be seen in the game. Users can walk around the content and watch it from different angles as if they were actually there.
The venue itself is another area for creativity. In this partnership the BBC built the virtual venues but we also provide that service to other partners. We can recreate digital twins of legendary venues like the Hacienda, or Print Works or Glastonbury. Audiences are excited by that.
Paving the way.
There are currently hundreds of millions of young people spending a significant proportion of their time inside 3D video games like Fortnite and Roblox but until now, there’s been no way to deliver live music performances or sport to them in those spaces.
I’m excited about all kinds of 3D live events coming into games environments. Sports, theatre, keynote speakers and more being delivered into virtual worlds. These virtual games need to remain sticky - audiences, especially young audiences, get bored quickly. Games are already becoming hubs where media is converging - these platforms let you socialise with your friends, transact and game, all at the same time. Now our technology can also bring the real world experiences and incredible content that people already know and love into virtual worlds and games platforms in an authentic, immersive and live way.
We believe that live-streamed 3D video has the potential to be the killer app for spatial computing, so I’m excited that we’ll be launching our technology on spatial computing devices like the Meta Quest and the Apple Vision Pro with partners soon.
Stay tuned - this is just the beginning!
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