Academics from Bath Spa University are to collaborate with a Frome-based firm that stages drone light shows on a world-leading project to develop spectacular tech-driven displays.
Called Celestial Live, the scheme will create light shows that respond to performers in real-time, enabling them to express their music or dance through an immersive fusion of colour, scale and movement, as opposed to current pre-recorded drone animation.
The project builds on the success of Frome-based Celestial’s drone light shows that often feature hundreds of drones flying in formation.
The artist-led firm was formed in 2020 with just 20 drones. It has since attracted external investment, opened an office in Los Angeles and increased its drone fleet to more than 1,000, which have been deployed in live shows across the UK and in Australia, including for Greenpeace, Coventry City of Culture, Adelaide Fringe Festival and the City of Melbourne as well as its hometown of Frome, pictured above.
Its shows incorporate music and imagery to create an unparalleled audio-visual experience.
The Celestial Live project will enable Celestial to create artistic drone formations with increased sophistication, allowing audiences to receive a more intense feeling of immersion.
It is among six tech trailblazers to be awarded a share of £1m by MyWorld, a visionary initiative led by the University of Bristol which aims to drive innovation in creative technology tools and processes, so empowering audiences and fuelling creative business growth.
Celestial will work with on the project with Sri Lankan-born, Bristol-based musician Paul Jebanasam and Bath Spa emeritus professor Joseph Hyde, who together lead the university’s world-leading Sonic Art and Visual Music research group.
The group stages events such as the Seeing Sound visual music symposium which has run at the university since 2009, along with its own work, which includes cutting-edge arts/science collaborations, immersive installations and performances at high-profile international music festivals.
The aim is to produce a prototype control drone system which extracts live audio and motion information from a musician’s performance and translates it into a drone light show which constantly evolves to reflect the performance.
To demonstrate the innovation, the project team aim to host a showcase event at its conclusion with a small fleet of drones dancing in real-time alongside a live musical performance.
The university will also host two events to share the findings from the project and invite input from the broader research community it has developed over the past decade.
MyWorld is supported by £30m of funding from the UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Strength in Places Fund and is connecting regional and national partners with global tech giants, including Netflix, Google, and Microsoft.
Made up of a unique cross-sector consortium, its partners include the BBC, Aardman Animations, BT, Digital Catapult and Bristol Old Vic.
The hub is projected to generate more than 700 jobs and boost the regional economy by £223m by forging dynamic collaborations between world-leading academic institutions and creative industries to develop technological innovation, creative excellence, inclusive cultures and knowledge sharing.
MyWorld director and University of Bristol Professor David Bull said: “The West of England is an exciting, vibrant and globally recognised source of creative technology innovation and MyWorld is delighted to fund this first cohort of collaborative research and development projects.
“We can’t wait to see the results and see what further opportunities they will generate for the partners and the region.”
UKRI Strength in Places Fund programme director Rachel Tyrrell added: “I am delighted to see the MyWorld project award R&D grants to six innovative projects in the South West of England. This funding will stimulate the local creative technology industry and strengthen partnerships between universities and business.”
The Collaborative Research and Development (R&D) Open Call is led by MyWorld partner Digital Catapult and the competition is delivered by Innovate UK.
Other creative enterprises from across the region will have the chance to bid for funding in the next R&D call, scheduled for next January.
