Dead Good Venues

Project partners: Pittswood Studio and i4 Studios

XR Stories provided research and development funding to help Yorkshire-based virtual production and creative filmmaking studio, Pittswood, develop an immersive user experience exploring the cultural heritage of northern music venues.

A 360 VR experience brings three iconic ‘dead venues’ back to life using traditional archive materials such as photographs, footage and personal accounts. The venues were rebuilt in a virtual space which will include interactive elements to explore the idea of active and accessible archiving.

The project team worked with northern-based music artists, transporting them back into these venues in a ‘choose your own adventure’ style user experience. The project blurred the lines between filmmaking, VR computer game experiences, and cultural archiving, allowing users to enjoy a virtual gig where the room is full of artefacts, anecdotes told by the barman or locals, and the opportunity to watch a modern grassroots band from the north playing on an iconic stage.

The developed prototype acts as both an archiving tool and a contemporary artist platform.

Dead Good Venues received an R&D grant from the OpenXR 2 funding call.

Categories: Research, Technology