VR Project

Background

The prototype of ‘SYNC’ was unveiled at EMC’s ‘The Reboot’ on Tuesday April 5, 2022 at the Powerhouse Museum. A VR project that had been 18 months in the making, ‘SYNC’ is a virtual club, created through the partnership of EMC with Creative Technologist Georgie Pinn, that includes performances from Australian electronic and dance music artists. The performances can be experienced as a fully immersive VR experience via Oculus Quest. The prototype for SYNC will be unveiled at EMC’s ‘The Reboot’ with patrons able to experience the VR club in The Lab Gallery at the Powerhouse Museum. 

Spurred by the restrictions of live music during the lockdowns of 2020, EMC Director Jane Slingo and Georgie Pinn collaborated to explore the possibilities of VR to enable an enriching digital live music experience, beyond the 2D live streaming that became so prevalent during the pandemic lockdowns. 

The SYNC concept was born – a virtual club with a multiverse of spaces, housing a range of live performances from electronic and dance music artists. 

While Covid was the catalyst for SYNC, the more significant opportunity is in delivering access to people less able to attend gigs and shows happening in real life, regardless of restrictions on live music venues. Leading disability, accessibility and inclusion consultant Morwenna Collett and expert cultural consultant Kelly Dezart-Smith have each provided best practice guidelines and advice throughout the development of the SYNC prototype, focussing on VR access for people living with disability, as well as culturally diverse and gender diverse people.

EMC Director Jane Slingo said: “There can be many reasons that people do not attend events, gigs, clubs and shows in physical spaces. Some venues are not accessible for people with disability, some people are hindered by distance, some people may love an artist but may not feel safe in hetereo white spaces. Understanding the potential of the metaverse to deliver greater access for people to enjoy live music performances, Georgie and I were really focussed on accessibility and inclusion from the very early stages of development. We’re very grateful to have had expert advice and insights from Morwenna and Kelly in this first phase of the SYNC development. I’m incredibly excited that guests of EMC’s ‘The Reboot’ will be the first to user test the SYNC prototype.” 

 

Creative Director and Technologist Georgie Pinn said: “The main focus of my creative practice is to augment empathy and break down stereotypes and prejudice,using immersive tech and storytelling to connect strangers. VR is the perfect space to shapeshift in and to explore different multiple identities. Not only does the user get to customise their own avatar, but the selection of body parts are hybrid and surreal, stepping outside of the aesthetic norms of reality. We are set free to be creative and playful over sexy and stylish. The combinations that users make will also make for good conversation in the social sphere. 

The Venue’s Characters that you meet on your journey are also unpredictable human/machine/animal hybrids that are gender and race fluid, morphing through thousands of identities. This again echoes the experience’s focus on inclusion and further references the notion that we are all connected.”

The prototype of SYNC features performances from NSW based artists only. These performances have been filmed at shows in real life, offering a juxtaposition between the surrealism of the SYNC club, characters and avatars with the VR video and ambisonic audio filmed in real life. The shows experienced in SYNC are immersive visually and audibly. 

The creation of SYNC was possible with the support of the NSW Government through Create NSW and a City of Parramatta Creative Economy grant.

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