Tele Sync portals were created as part of a series of research projects on how we can use innovative technology to support grassroots venues and artists. Tele Sync specifically looks at how technology can develop audiences and connect people to grassroots spaces. We wanted to explore the notion of tele-present interconnected portals located within a city, to better understand the use cases and to foster a new found sense of camaraderie amongst the participating venues. 
 

The portals have 4 modes of operation:

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Promo — discover upcoming shows
Interactive — solo audience experiences
Telepresence — play & connect across locations
Broadcast — stream live performances beyond the venue.

 

By linking isolated gigs and spaces to people and busy places – Tele Sync – aims to help grassroots venues reach new audiences by offering a new experience that fosters interaction, connection and discovery.

Each portal consists of a 43" 4K display, camera and barebone PC, Allowing us to easily build and deploy a wide range of solo interactions and multi player experiences. The portals run on TouchDesigner a software that generates the live visuals you see on the screens. It takes in a video feed and processes it in real time, allowing images to be transformed, combined, and animated.

 

Within this, MediaPipe is used to analyse the video and understand what a person is doing, such as where their body, face, or hands are, and how they are moving. This information is then used to drive the visuals, so the system can respond directly to people’s presence and movement. 

 

Alongside this, a separate control system running on a server manages the overall behaviour of the installation. It decides which visual effect should run, whether different installations should interact, and how they are connected. This control layer communicates with TouchDesigner over a network using WebSockets, sending instructions and receiving updates, while the video itself is streamed using NDI. This separation allows the visuals to run smoothly in real time, while higher-level decisions are handled centrally in the cloud.

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Acting as a platform for a whole host of digital interactive artworks, the portals will act as a gateway to exhibiting and embedding new ideas of of audience interaction and participation across space and time. 

This project is part of an ongoing research project - please get in touch if you would like to host one of the portals or would like to discuss anything else. 

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Artistic Director : Venya Krutikov
TouchDesigner : Emma Brass
Web App : James Bailey
Commissioned by:  CoStar Network & Music Futures

Supported by: Music Venues Trust

Images Artists Own & Music Futures