In recent years, former one directioner and now bonafide solo pop star, Liam Payne has been using cutting edge technology in his marketing plan and is really staying one step ahead of the game.
At the end of 2018, Liam partnered up with MelodyVR to create the first ever live virtual concert experience which was broadcast from London’s KOKO. Prior to this, MelodyVR had created non-live virtual reality experiences for the likes of Bebe Rexha, Post Malone and former bandmate Niall Horan.
Apart from being the first live virtual reality concert, the show was streamed all across the world in real time but was also viewed in an “unseen quality for VR”. One of the features was that viewers had ‘jump spot’ technology, allowing them to watch the show from any space within the venue. Very useful if you’re a little on the shorter size and always end up behind a bunch of tall people blocking your view.
Fast forward to the present day and Liam is once again using high end, never used before technology to leverage his career. At this years’ BAFTA Awards, Liam was the first artist to do a live AR (augmented reality) performance.
Liam partnered up with EE, who has been working with the BAFTA Awards since 2013, to create this unique visual experience. The performance was created by using EE’s 5G network and was able to be viewed by fans via ‘The Round’ app on their mobiles.
In order to put this all together, Liam wore a motion capture suit which tracked his movements by sensors and a headset that tracks his performance. All of this information was then used to create a 3D animated show that made it seem as if the avatar was performing in the homes of the fans. After the app performance, the avatar joined Liam on stage at The Royal Albert Hall using holographic technology for the official EE Bafta opening performance.
Although a lot of people may be confused particularly by the avatar app performance, this is undeniably a big step in technological advancement and Liam has once again proved that he is keeping up with it.
