PEEX: A Device That Allows Live Remix at Concerts | TechTree.com

PEEX: A Device That Allows Live Remix at Concerts

Imagine going to a classical music concert and being able to remix augmented reality sounds to customize one’s experience to suit individual sensibilities.

 

Imagine going to a classical music concert and being able to remix augmented reality sounds to customize one’s experience to suit individual sensibilities. Besides getting to hear close to studio-quality music irrespective of where one’s seats are located, the experience may also allow listeners to focus on the vocals, the percussion or any of the other instruments.

No, this isn’t science fiction we are talking about. A UK-based start-up PEEX is now testing wearable technology provides users premium sounds at each and every seat in the house to provide a wholesome concert experience.

The device named PEEX rX reproduces the sounds from the stage in a synchronized manner to any part of the auditorium where a music concert is being held. The sound is then controlled from a mobile phone app (available on both Android and Apple) using an interactive five-channel mixing desk.

The company recently offered the device to the media for testing at Elton John’s concerts in Canada. Gillian Shaw, writing in the Vancouver Sun noted, “At first, walking around with headphones at a concert felt a bit dweebish. But when Elton John sat down at the grand piano and his voice filtered through all the background white noise that marks the audio experience at the arena, I didn’t care.”

So, where did this idea stem from?

In a chat with Techaddicts.uk, PEEX co-founder and chief technology officer Graham Tull said the idea came from his own experience and desire for more control and clarity at live concerts. “I’ve always loved seeing artists play live but often the sound quality is compromised by the many disruptive and destructive influences on the sound before it reaches our ears.”

The need to adjust one’s individual sound experience is what made Tull seek out a solution to something that most music aficionados in India would acknowledge to be a major challenge, what with poor acoustics and numerous unwanted noises emanating from the venue.

Tull revealed in the interview that the team at PEEX had been at it for close to four years doing research on the underlying technology. “This led to the establishment of mass manufacturing capabilities in readiness for the commercial phase,” he says.

The technology ensures that the audio from the stage is converted into radio packets, which are broadcast through transmitters on the lighting rig. Thereafter their proprietary 5 gigahertz Wi-Fi system in the stadium transmits it in an encrypted stream of digital data to the wearable device where a chip decodes it and sends it into the earphones.

The system calculates the precise moment when the music needs to be sent to the ears based on where one is located and when one expects to hear the natural sound coming from the concert speakers. A microphone in the wearable helps identify the sound coming from the speakers. With this added calculation, you don’t hear multiple sets of sounds, Tull said.

The company has ensured that the sound in the earphones are perfectly synchronized with what’s happening outside so that there is no disturbance from one to the other. “The PA (public address) system can obviously only deliver its audio at the speed of sound, whereas the PEEX system transmits digital audio at the speed of light,” says the co-founder.

The company currently focuses only on working with performing artists at their live concerts but says that the only way it can grow in scale is to enable music fans to use it without any direct intervention from the company itself.

Now imagine listening to the Hindustani classical strains of Pandit Jasraj or Prince Rama Varma at the Shanmukhananda Hall wearing PEEX. The experience could be simply mind blowing to the classical music fan. Of course, the same holds good for Bollywood music or an A R Rahman concert.


TAGS: PEEX, PEEX rX

 
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