The Future of Digital Mixing Is In VR!

March 4, 2016June 7, 2022 realitycheckvr 2238 Views Development, informative, opinion

Why? Why would we switch to VR HMD’s instead using traditional reliable methods. This has got to be the first question anyone would ask themselves when looking into using these future technologies and how they can play a part in our current society.

“My vision is quite simple”

RealityCheckVR Instagram (Branson Theatre)

The eventual and inevitable switch to businesses using ‘Virtual Headsets’ will not only save money in the long run, but also allow for more advanced, and more timely work to be done. Imagine entire call centers and tech specialists sitting in cubicles without the bulky equipment sitting around them, instead each employee feeling comfortable in their own personal VR HMD. Privacy won’t be a problem considering that the only person that can see your screen is you… …and maybe big brother of course. 😛

“…virtual reality as a means of getting work done can be beneficial not just for the employer but also the employee.”

Traditional jobs of the sort will always have their place in the world, adapting as they do for people whom do not want to or cannot wear VR HMD’s. Still there is no doubt that using virtual reality as a means of getting work done can be beneficial not just for the employer but also the employee.

This brings me to event & media production and how VR can be used to advance this business into a new realm of possibilities! Personally I have spent a great deal of my life working in event production so I believe this gives me the ability to have some insight as to what is possible in this field.

Wicked Ticket S

I began working as a stage-hand for my step-dads production business in Lincoln, NE when I was around 10 years old. I briefly worked freelance and production in Chicago before moving to Springfield, MO. In 2012 I began working full-time for a production company that did shows large and small all around the Ozark area. Most recently I was fortunate enough to work the National Tour of the Broadway show ‘Wicked’. Every show generally requires three main aspects, audio, lighting, and video. In my experience I have run many different audio boards (digital mixers), lighting hogs (consoles), and video tricasters (production booths). Each of these things generally costs thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars and must be maintained to insure proper functionality. Again Why? Why would we switch to VR HMD’s instead of using traditional reliable methods? Because I believe that all of these things could be done better and cheaper within either a virtual or augmented reality environment. Yes, you would still need expensive hardware in order to hook up all the inputs and outputs that are necessary for such devices to communicate with the speakers/lights/video monitors, but the consoles, mixers, and boards themselves do not need to be connected directly to that same hardware.

My vision is quite simple, rather than have engineers and operators using cumbersome boards or mixers that often highlight unnecessary features, you would be able to create an easy to navigate virtual environment that only has the features/buttons/options that are relevant to the show at hand. Thus allowing one person to do more than ever before. You could never miss a cue when the whole room changes color to signify your action. For audio guys just think, rather than trying to find that annoying buzz or which signal is too hot you simply have to scan your horizon for visual clues in your virtual environment. You could easily program the sound waves visually to ensure perfection while you determine which frequencies to dim and which ones to pop!

Many job’s will have the potential of benefiting from VR HMD’s and many will not. What I find most interesting is when we discover brand new jobs that never existed before virtual reality. This truly is an interesting time to discover the world of VR/AR if you haven’t already!

What job’s do you think will benefit most from VR? Which ones do you think will never use VR?

I’d love to know what you think!

Thanks again for reading. If you’d like to ask any questions or make any comments feel free to below, or email me at RealityCheckVR@VRSpies.com! Thanks a lot))

Filming a TV Show at Hammons

Running Spotlight for Wicked

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of the VR Spies www.vrspies.com

****All photos were taking by me and pulled from my Instagram page!