Technology / 11.04.20

Fireplay, PRG, and Clair Global Team Up for 'Virtual Crowd' COVID-Era Audience Solution

Access Staff

Pollstar (11/02/20) Borba, Ryan

Three major concert production companies — Fireplay, Production Resource Group (PRG) and Clair Global — have partnered on a live-crowd solution for virtual events called Virtual Crowd, to help audiences connect and interact with performers in real time. "Nothing will ever replace the experience of an in-person live show, but I believe Virtual Crowd is a fantastic way for artists, live events, concerts and streams to re-engage their audiences who are getting tired of watching virtual events," said Fireplay CEO Nick Whitehouse. Virtual Crowd's aesthetics can be tailored to different types of events, brands or business environments, and can facilitate "Interview Mode," which allows the production team to pick individual guests to engage with. Clair Global's Virtual Live Audience proprietary platform powers Virtual Crowd, and Clair Global CIO Matt Clair said the company's turn toward packaged data services "allowed us to utilize our experience in production audio/IT and be back at the table working alongside PRG and Fireplay in a new way. The prospect of getting our road crew — and the entire live events industry — back to work with the deployment of each and every Virtual Crowd system is the biggest win from our vantage point." PRG will help implement a global expansion of Virtual Crowd. "This solution, while creating jobs for our crews, will create an environment of live enhancement to support an artist's interaction with their audiences," said Randy Hutson with PRG's Music Group. "Further, with PRG's unsurpassed inventory of technology, clients can easily activate Virtual Crowd on any scale, anywhere around the world."

Read the full story from Pollstar. 

Tags: News , Venues , COVID-19 , Coronavirus