71109Crack Magazine XRClosedFeasibility StudiesInnovate UKBringing audiences together via music in our isolated-but-connected times, Crack Magazine will build and launch a free app designed to bring this innovative music content into the hands and homes of fans. Crack is Europe's biggest independent music magazine with a history of innovation in music content. Whether it's producing 360º live sessions with ambisonic audio, teasing major cover stories with geo-tag treasure hunts, distributing virtual reality headsets across the UK for free, or bringing our pages to life through augmented reality, we are industry leaders in adapting and innovating in the field of music and entertainment. By pairing musicians with creatives in the world of technology and digital design, the app will be a place for tailored experiences designed specifically to be enjoyed at home. In the same way events like Manchester International Festival and SXSW debut newly commissioned work to physical audiences, our app will be a place for new frontiers in music content with a focus on hologram performances, audiovisual collaborations and virtual interactions between fans and artists. This will be a showcase for new kinds of creativity. Technical approaches will include the use of 3D capture and machine learning to create unique holographic recordings of performing artists. These can be streamed via the web to viewers anywhere in the world, and then integrated into Augmented Reality experiences where viewers at home can bring the experiences into their living room. As well as live performances, we will expand the stories in Crack Magazine's digital version and bring them to life using this technology. The COVID-19 crisis has shown artists need to find new ways of staying connected with their fans. It's also highlighted shortfalls in the tools available to make their performances aesthetically and visually dynamic. Social media platforms compromise audio quality and are only fit for lo-fi setups, while traditional audio broadcasters limit the scope of creative possibilities. Our objective is simple; build a space for imaginative performances and forward-thinking creativity powered by new technology. We will use our musical knowledge and relationships with tech companies to create extraordinary experiences with amazing artists and demonstrate how creative and groundbreaking technology will shape the future of music entertainment. From working on our current Innovate UK project, we have found that what we are building has significant potential for global B2B revenue streams outside of content on our own channels. We have already been invited and pitched to a USA ‘household name’ media house for further R&D to build a 10 camera rig and develop a strategy for how the technology could be utilised for projects within their IP. We are currently awaiting feedback on this proposal. We would like to use this extension funding for a thorough investigation period of the prototype we developed over the last 5 months. We need to examine the robustness of the technology in a real world context, develop onboarding and documentation strategies for clients, test marketing materials and develop a pitch deck for investment as we have an exclusivity deal on the technology for 12 months, meaning we must expedite our route to market. We will also use this funding to explore wider uses of the technology to see where it may be used to tap into additional markets such as Virtual Production, and Live XR broadcast performance, and integration with Virtual Reality development pipelines.