The idea of collaboration between the UNSW's Music Performance Unit and thus the UNSW Orchestra and Choir and our Immersive Team to create an innovative VR experience around their performances is exciting for all involved. No longer just putting you in a virtual audience the co-creation explored new ways to bring the audio, visuals and interactivity together.
Project Details
Even early work-in-progress versions of the OrchestraChoir VR experience were enthusiastically experienced at events like UNSW OWEEK and the Scientia Circle donor event. The experience allows the viewer to be immersed in the soundscape captured during the UNSW Orchestra and Choir's combined performance of several pieces. The player is surrounded by vast floating video cubes where they can hone in on particular footage as the visuals pulse and evolve with the music.
TECHNOLOGY & DEVELOPMENT
The active design and development of the project continues as more musical performances and viewing use-cases are explored. The staff and work integrated learning student developers are using the Unity game engine to bring together all the elements and deliver the VR experience using our Meta Quest 3 headsets. The capturing and editing of the audio and video used in the experience also requires the Media Team's expertise
Credits
"How do we innovate and challenge classical music experiences that are steeped in tradition and stem back the 19th century. That is the question I was asking myself when I reached out to the Immersive Technologies team to collaborate. The answer: by pushing the boundaries of the traditional concert hall.
Through immersive technology, we created an engaging experience, recording 120 members of the UNSW Orchestra and Collegium Musicum Choir in performance. Usually, the listener hugs the performers sitting in an arch around the artists. Through VR, we turned this aspect on its head, reversing the layout and placing the artists around the listener making them the epicentre of this new sonic landscape. Working with new technology was innovative and enabled us to go beyond the traditional conventions of this art form, redesigning the user experience. It created accessible pathways to engage with symphonic and choral music and was a thrilling process for our students at UNSW to participate in firsthand."
Eleasha Mah, Creative Programs Manager, Music Performance Unit
Key Stakeholders
Eleasha Mah (Creative Programs Manager, Music Performance Unit, PVC Student Success)
Sonia Martin (Head of Culture, PVC Student Success)
Design, Media & Development
Tim Dodds (Immersive Technology Specialist and Developer, PVC Education)
Graham Hannah (Manager of Immersive Technologies, PVC Education)
Brian Landrigan (Manager of Media & Immersive Technologies, PVC Education)
Jim Atkins (External Audio Technician)
Anh Nguyen (Media Specialist, PVC Education)
David Nguyen (Media Specialist PVC Education)
Work Integrated Learning Student Partners
Rongyi Liao (Master of Simulation and Immersive Technology Capstone)
Elisabeth Zhu (Software Engineering Thesis Project)
UNSW Orchestra
UNSW Collegium Music Choir
Get Involved
There are internal Teams Channels, Miro Boards and working groups covering the development collaboration with the Music Performance Unit. To find out more, join the team, get a demo or have your class or promotion use-case included just get in touch.
- Email: [email protected]
There are internal Teams Channels, Miro Boards and working groups covering the development collaboration with the Music Performance Unit. To find out more, join the team, get a demo or have your class or promotion use-case included just get in touch.
- Email: [email protected]