SPARTANBURG, S.C. (courtesy converse.edu) — In collaboration with Converse College’s renowned Petrie School of Music and its Music Business and Technology program, Oregon-based startup Music Myway Inc. is releasing “Virtual Venue,” a plug-and-play hardware and software application that brings together the three most critical parts of a concert experience: artist, venue and fan. Converse will be the first educational institution in the nation to work with the new technology, which currently has three patents pending.
“In the age of COVID-19, the live concert experience has all but vanished, and it’s much-missed by artists, venues, and fans,” said Music Myway President and CEO Vincent Gilbert. “Through Virtual Venue, we are bringing real-world, real-time shows back to life to create a shift that will revolutionize and affect the music industry long after the COVID-19 crisis has passed.”
Virtual Venue harnesses the cloud and 3D technology to create what Gilbert calls an “alternate means of watching live entertainment.” Live-streamed artists appear in a virtually recreated venue along with all the sound, lights, and crowd interaction typically experienced at an in-person event. The audience attends the show as avatars, in an immersive experience that allows them to feel like they are actually there, rather than viewing a concert online.
Converse students will be beta-testers for the new technology during fall 2020 and will work with the developers to provide feedback on the prototype for further refinement of the product. Before the Virtual Venue system’s final deployment, Converse students will produce the world’s first fully interactive 3D venue hybrid online event using the technology, and will also have the opportunity to gain additional hands-on experience through a year-long series of concerts through 2021 for the purposes of ongoing testing and product refinement.
“Converse empowers our students to become innovative, adaptable leaders, and we push beyond traditional boundaries to provide them with unique educational experiences,” said Converse President Krista L. Newkirk. “The partnership with Music Myway immerses our Music Business and Technology students with an opportunity to be involved on the ground level of profoundly disruptive technology and what we see as the future of live entertainment.”
Click here for more information about Music Business and Technology at Converse. For more information about Music Myway and Virtual Venue, visit http://musicmywayinc.com/.