The InnoTeam researches and develops technologies and applications for virtual cultural events. Immersive computer technologies enable the embodiment of digital content that can be entered and experienced using VR glasses. Through the virtualization of people, their movements, and speech, and their representation using avatars, shared experiences in virtual space similar to a real gathering are possible. Thus, technologies for the virtualization of real cultural stage content, such as concerts, their transmission and presentation in virtual event spaces, and the subsequent interaction with viewers in multi-person applications are developed and tested in exemplary use cases. This aims to enable people to participate in cultural live events together with others, regardless of their location, as if they were physically present. This is intended to create new forms of cultural and social participation through media and communication technologies, positively impacting societal needs and the dissemination and accessibility of cultural content, while simultaneously reducing real mobility behavior.

Results

The outcome is a virtual club for Meta Quest where fans meet as avatars, talk to each other, take selfies and party together. The artist performs live on stage and controls music, lights and effects directly, while spatial audio and a light show synced to the beat create a true club atmosphere. The interdisciplinary mix of human factors research, production engineering and VR development proved especially valuable – we learned a lot from each other. And the audience loved it: more than half would join again.