Beatie Wolfe released her latest album Raw Space as the world's first live 360˚ AR stream which combined live, 360˚ stereoscopic video and real-time AR visuals to create a modern, Fantasia-like live streamed album experience. The Raw Space experience has been described as "like walking around in a dream someone had made for me" by The New Scientist, "an extraordinary production: music and visuals" by BBC Radio 4 and "utterly groundbreaking" by Fast Company
Watch the individual ar 360˚ stereoscopic videos from raw space below - viewable in 360˚ on phones, tablets & computers + in VR using a headset // Watch in YouTube VR
“Raw Space began with a question. What would the anti-stream of today look like?”
A musical innovator as much as a musician, Beatie Wolfe is at the forefront of pioneering new formats for music, which reunite tangibility, storytelling & ceremony to the album in this digital age. In this vein, Wolfe has created a series of world’s-first designs that bridge the tangible and digital, which include: a 3D vinyl for the iPhone; an intelligent album deck of cards; a Musical Jacket - designed by the tailor who dressed Bowie, Jagger and Hendrix and cut from fabric woven with Wolfe’s music - and most recently the world's first live 360 ̊ generative AR album stream. Beatie Wolfe’s work has been featured in the world’s leading museums, festivals, conferences and received nominations across the music, tech and art fields. Wolfe is also the co-founder of a “profound” (The Times) new research project looking at the power of music for people living with dementia
Nokia Bell Labs is a global collective of the world's brightest minds, creating the network of the future. Bell Labs has a legacy of developing game-changing technology with eight Nobel Prizes in physics, two Turing Awards, three Japan Prizes, a plethora of National Medals of Science and Engineering, as well as an Oscar, two Grammy’s and an Emmy award for technical innovation. Today, Bell Labs researchers are focused on new ways of compressing and sharing data while developing disruptive innovations for the next phase of human existence // www.bell-labs.com
Design I/O LLC is an award winning creative studio specializing in the design and development of cutting edge, immersive, interactive installations. Design I/O develops installations for events, galleries, museums, exhibitions and public space and specializes in creating engaging, meaningful interaction with the public. With more than 15 years experience in interactive media, Design I/O and its partners continue to push the boundaries of what is possible at the intersection of design and technology // www.design-io.com
Augmented reality brings Beatie Wolfe’s new songs to life https://t.co/gWt8fwn34D pic.twitter.com/XIJzloryNj
— New Scientist (@newscientist) May 6, 2017
On May 5th, the needle will drop in the most silent room on Earth. A record will play, streaming live in anechoic sound to anyone who logs in. Words, colors, and fantastic visions will leap from the grooves, as synched visuals create a 360˚ world of imagery to complement each song in full augmented reality.
This is Raw Space, the latest “world’s-first” album experience by British singer-songwriter and digital art-innovator Beatie Wolfe, in collaboration with interactive creative firm Design I/O and the world-renowned Nokia Bell Labs.
"Raw Space touches on the themes I’ve been exploring since my first album but in perhaps the most extreme and technicolor way. For this album, it began with a question. What would the anti-stream of today look like? With Raw Space, I wanted to create the antithesis of our current streaming experience and really celebrate the world of the album—it’s artwork, arc, narrative, music—in a fully immersive and multi sensory way, which has the effect of placing the listener at the centre of this dynamic world," explains Wolfe.
“Launching this out of one of the world’s quietest rooms has the effect of immediately instilling a sense of ceremony into this experience, both quieting the ‘noise’ around and allowing the listener to hear the true sound of sound. effect of placing the listener at the centre of this dynamic world,” explains Wolfe. “Launching this out of one of the world’s quietest rooms has the effect of immediately instilling a sense of ceremony into this experience, both quieting the ‘noise’ around and allowing the listener to hear the true sound of sound. In essence, it’s really about using technology to bring back some of music’s old school magic.”
The 'Raw Space' experience will launch May 5, 2017 as a 24-hour, week long, 360˚ real-time streaming experience and as a series of live VIP Augmented Reality performances in the new performance space built around the Nokia Bell Labs' anechoic chamber. Its launch builds on 50-years of Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) pioneered by Bell Labs together with collaborators such as John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol, and now including Beatie in this panoply of artists pushing the boundaries of physical and digital expression.
“We are delighted to be working with the remarkable Beatie Wolfe on her highly disruptive Raw Space album experience, which looks at the intersection of art and tech in a truly inspired way. As Bell Labs celebrates the next 50 years of E.A.T., I couldn't think of a better project or artistic collaborator to champion the next phase of this defining exploration of the human possibilities of technology,” said Marcus Weldon, President of Nokia Bell Labs and CTO of Nokia
"Raw Space will bring into play a technological first, combining live, 360˚ stereoscopic video and real-time generative AR visuals to create a modern, Fantasia-like live streamed album experience that can be viewed on VR headsets, tablets, and smartphones," notes Theo Watson of award-winning technologists Design I/O, which has worked on interactive experiences at both the Tate and MOMA
Raw Space Album Artwork
Raw Space Album Artwork (back)
