Watch the full NAB Show 2023 session, “The Future of Data-Driven Hybrid Experiences: Bridging Digital and Physical Realms.”

Virtual and augmented reality will eventually merge the metaverse with our everyday surroundings, but we can get a glimpse of how that might look in emergent location-based experiences.

A number of them are popping up, notably in Las Vegas, where the mother of all venues, the MSG Sphere, is gearing up for an autumn launch.

It’s fair to say that mixing the 3D internet populated by avatars with tactile, IRL-populated experiences is both experiential and experimental.

We are in the foothills of what is possible and getting the mix right involves considerable trial and error.

“Probably one of the largest drivers of the technologies that we’re working with was COVID,” MetaCities co-founder Chris Crescitelli explained at the 2023 NAB Show. “The pandemic definitely accelerated the timeline.”

The NAB Show session, “The Future of Data-Driven Hybrid Experiences: Bridging Digital and Physical Realms,” explored how digital and physical experiences can be combined to create engaging and immersive storytelling experiences using mixed reality technologies. (You can watch the full session in the video at the top of the page.)

MetaCities is a startup focusing on recreating real-world locations in the metaverse, and then providing experiences in those virtual spaces that include musical performances, avatars and holograms.

It’s producing more than 50 virtual events a year, selling tickets and advertising/sponsorship alike on behalf of its clients, which includes Las Vegas-based StarBase.

StarBase is a 8,000-square-foot live and virtual entertainment event space that is among the first to use holoportation technology to operate as a hybrid real world and metaverse event venue. StarBase has a “digital twin” built by MetaCities using Microsoft’s AltspaceVR to replicate the physical venue as an interactive one online.

“MetaCities teamed up with StarBase to create what we think is the country’s first digital twin hybrid live venue installation,” Crescitelli said.

He described the core fundamental building blocks of the shows as using “proto-holograms in the real world.

“If you haven’t seen or heard of proto-hologram, it’s a seven by four-foot display in which people stand and their video is transmitted and displayed as a proto hologram anywhere else. Traditionally people beam from one proto hologram into the other. We’re using it for the live avatar projection as well,” he said.

“The second element is a robust metaverse platform, and the third element is the live tech in the building from camera installations and projection to sensors in the right places for the live audience to see each other. Technicians glue all that together.”

The success of these entertainments rely not just on technology but on utilizing the personal data of guests. Clearly there are issue of privacy but if those can be overcome then it is possible to curate experiences which are shared and personalized at the same time.

Melissa Desrameaux, venue director at StarBase, explained, “The way our space is laid out there are a lot of different rooms that guests can freely flow into. We encourage them to create micro experiences throughout the event. Not everyone has to have the same experience at the same time. A lot of times they’re asking for just really experiential ways to bring food and beverage to life and we’ll have fun creating different stations, building props for them.”

The ability to track guest eye movement would benefit the experience, but most people are not yet comfortable giving permission for this.

“Everybody in those upper executive offices would love to have all that eye tracking information. And it’s so logical to do that. But it definitely borders on privacy issues that some people don’t want to cross. But the tech is all there for sure. In a lot of virtual worlds that are headsets that are enabled with eye tracking and those will be more prevalent in the newer models.”

It is early days of course but there is potential for content owners to license their IP to appear in these virtual worlds and as avatars in the real world. Disney might seem the logical first mover though the panel thought owners with more flexible arguably less well known IP — such as Netflix’s Stranger Things — might be more suitable for exploitation.

“In the same way that you have SoundExchange for music (a collective rights management organization that collects and distributes digital performance royalties for sound recording) eventually we’ll have a similar exchange for images. So you’re using Mickey’s pants in this and Disney’s gonna take a piece of your sales…”

VISIT OUR DEDICATED 2023 NAB SHOW MICROSITE.

Watch the full NAB Show 2023 session “Virtual Live Remote Production and Video Distribution” above.

In an era where cloud technology is revolutionizing the Media & Entertainment industry, the 2023 NAB Show brought together executives from the NFL, the NHL and ESPN to discuss the future of live remote production. The panelists shared their experiences and goals, providing a glimpse into the future of broadcasting that is not only more efficient and flexible, but also ripe with opportunities for innovative content creation.

The Q&A session, entitled “Virtual Live Remote Production and Video Distribution,” was moderated by Julie Souza, Head of Sports, Global Professional Services, AWS, and featured NFL Media senior director of asset management & post production Brad Boim, NHL SVP of technology Grant Nodine, and ESPN director of specialist operations Chris Strong. Watch the full session in the video at the top of the page.

The session focused on the transition from terrestrial production to virtualized live production, which is touted as being more efficient, flexible, and scalable. The panelists discussed their experiences with proofs of concept (POCs) in cloud production and the groundwork that needs to be laid before moving production to the cloud. They also discussed the challenges they faced, including the need for resilience, confidence in the technology, and the cost of maintaining equipment in a data center.

To prepare to move to live remote production, the most important thing, Nodine said, “is just building your orchestration and ability to get video into the cloud on a repeatable basis, and really be able to drive automation in setting that up so that you can really start to think about new ways to spin up occasional compute, to be able to really hone in on, on what you want to do with that video, and make it more multipurpose and make it so that you can really adapt it to any audience, and on any device at any time.”

POCs provide opportunities to demonstrate the efficiencies of remote production to leadership, the panelists agreed. “If you just keep working at it and establishing whether they’re POCs or actually being able to execute things live, you start to break the glass ceiling a little bit more because a lot of the folks up above in the senior management leadership roles are not maybe looking at it from the same lens that we are as technologists,” Boim commented.

“We can’t go off the air, we have to keep going all the time,” said Strong. “We actually did a previous POC in October where we shadowed a regular production that was already live so we could make sure that we had everything set up, that we were ready to go,” he recalled. “Then, at the second go-round, we knew we could do it, so we flipped that around and backed up our cloud instance with live.”

The panelists also discussed the potential of cloud technology to provide more flexibility and scalability, allowing for more unique experiences for viewers. They talked about the potential for creating different versions of broadcasts for different markets and the ability to adapt and try new things more easily with cloud technology.

Scalability, elasticity and, efficiency are the primary benefits of producing in the cloud, Strong said.

“Software vendors are becoming more cloud-first in their approach to developing new tools,” Boim added, noting that software updates are usually made available on a cloud-first basis. “Sometimes it’s easier to get access to [the latest tools] if you’re just spinning something up and you want to be able to try to use something without making a huge capital investment in your facility. So I think that is going to be a real benefit because you’re gonna be able to touch new things quicker because they’re much more accessible.”

However, they also highlighted the challenges that need to be overcome for wider adoption of virtualized live remote production, including cultural and training issues, the need for further development in the ecosystem, and concerns about resilience and reliability. They emphasized the need for a gradual, methodical approach to adopting this technology, with the industry working together with manufacturers and networks to ensure it is done properly.

“One of the biggest challenges is really convincing the organization that this is the direction that we should be taking, and that this is worth the effort that we’re going to make to build the orchestration and automation tools that allow us to be able to have all of these resources available in the cloud,” Nodine commented, noting that the industry is already very close to the point of “one feed to rule them all,” where orgs send one feed to the cloud that will satisfy all outputs. “We’re starting to see that unification happen,” he said, adding, “It’s really the cloud turning into a fog, right? Which is that basically the content gets closer and closer and closer to the end users to the point where it’s ubiquitous and available everywhere all the time. And we’re getting close to that.”

VISIT OUR DEDICATED 2023 NAB SHOW MICROSITE.

Watch the full NAB Show 2023 session “The Independent Age in the Creator Economy.”

As the creator economy surges forward, transforming the Media & Entertainment industry, the 2023 NAB Show served as a platform for an exploration of this rapidly evolving landscape. The panel discussion, “The Independent Age in the Creator Economy,” held on Sunday, April 16, 2023 in the CAPITALIZE Inspiration Theater, explored the dynamics of this burgeoning economy, now representing more than 50 million creators and a marketplace exceeding $104 billion. Watch the full NAB Show session in the video at the top.

The discussion, led by Nick Urban, founder and CEO of the social platform Nowbase, offered a deep dive into the challenges and opportunities within this new economic paradigm. As creators navigate shifting revenue models, new government regulations like The EU Digital Markets Act, and the legacy of ad-driven social media models, the panelists — YouTube content creators Adrienne Finch and Lauren Lipman and Marinda Yelverton, senior vice president of brand solutions, North America, at global creator commerce company Whalar — highlighted the power of audience engagement, the significance of brand partnerships, and the evolution of tools empowering creators to carve out their own economic independence.

Discussing the importance of storytelling and human connection in marketing and advertising, each of the panelists emphasized how consumers connect more with stories and people than they relate to traditional advertisements.

“There’s just a lot of people out there wanting to connect and wanting to just be involved and put all in when they believe in a creator,” Lipman said.

“Consumers truly have the power here and they look to creators for relatability, aspiration. They don’t want to be told to buy a product. They want to really buy into a product because that brand really fits with their core values, their purpose, all those things,” said Yelverton.

Yelverton endorsed the subscription business model as “not only the most lucrative, but also the most connecting,” she said. “It’s a true-two way conversation. Because guess what? If [a creator] doesn’t have time to even talk to everyone every single day, they have each other and they are like-minded individuals who are looking for the same thing.”

The importance of authenticity in content creation was another big topic. Authenticity in content creation is about being genuine and consistent, allowing audiences to connect on a personal level. It’s more than honesty; it’s about staying true to one’s values and style, fostering trust and loyalty among audiences. In an increasingly saturated digital landscape, the panelists agreed, authenticity stands out, serving as a key tool for engagement and influence.

“Brand collaborations are the definition of a partnership,” said Finch. “I will say not every creator is on the same page when it comes to that. A lot of people have different intentions or want to speak about different brands for different reasons. For us, I know it’s all about authenticity and genuinely working together to create a win-win situation.”

Lipman cautioned against endorsing products that don’t actually serve your community. “If we see a brand and we’re working with them and the contract is going but the product doesn’t work — I’m not going to promote makeup that will give someone a rash,” she explained. “If a couple of people were to purchase a product that I promote and it sucks, breaks, is bad, that is my authenticity, my credibility. Why would anyone else ever want to buy anything that I promote ever again?”

Maintaining authenticity while working under the pressure to create more content is one of the biggest challenges creators face, Yelverton said. “It isn’t necessarily a bad thing, the pressure to produce content and creativity, [but] I think it’s a challenge.”

Platform evolution is another challenge to maintaining authenticity, Yelverton added. “So, how do creators maintain that authenticity while they try and explore as well? And being able to test and learn yourself and then see what resonates. I think that’s going to be a consistent challenge as these platforms evolve and change their mission. One minute it’s social commerce, the next it’s short form video, you know? And being able to stay true to yourself and your audience follows you along the way.”

Another evolving factor is the shift in perception of creators over time, with brands now recognizing their influence and potential for marketing and brand representation.

“The brands have obviously jumped into this space and figuring out different ways to align with creators,” Yelverton said. “For those of us who pay attention to this space in terms of what’s going on, programmatic advertising and things that we might see on matter, the Facebook platforms, Instagram, etc., where you can really target audiences with advertising. What we’re seeing is a huge uptrend in brand partnerships.”

Influencer marketing is a “win-win-win-win situation,” says Finch. “And here’s why. Because as a company, you’re actually paying far less than you would for a traditional ad. The whole entire production of a commercial talent ad space marketing for everything, you’re paying way less. This is a one-woman show over here…. So they’re paying way less. And guess what? For me, that way less is a lot because it’s just me. So I’m getting paid more. They’re spending less. Not only that, but they have absolute in real time metrics of demographics, feedback, comments, likes, dislikes, exactly how it’s doing. So I think companies started really latching on to, okay, this is very targeted and we can target and we can find creators that we trust and have credibility.”

Get more creator economy resources here.

Watch the full NAB Show 2023 session “Lights, Camera, Action: Building the DIY Production Studio.”

If you’re a content creator, you know how important it is to produce high-quality content that captures your audience’s attention. However, as a creator, you also know that this can be a costly endeavor. As part of its CREATE Experiential Zone, the 2023 NAB Show rounded up a panel of experts to share their insights into constructing the ultimate studio setup.

Moderated by Jim Louderback, editor and publisher of the Inside the Creator Economy newsletter, this hands-on workshop, “Lights, Camera, Action: Building the DIY Production Studio,” focused on the art of creating and producing content using a range cost-effective technology solutions. The session included John Canning, Director of Developer Relations for Creators at AMD; Philip Nelson, President of Nelco Media; Renee Teeley, creator economy advisor and host of The Creator Feed podcast; and Ivan Zeljkovic, founder of Evans Media Group. Watch the full NAB Show session in the video at the top.

During the workshop, participants learned about the key differences between a creator studio and a traditional TV studio, particularly in terms of the balance between capability and cost. “The difference is blurring quickly,” said Nelson, noting that with the increasing democratization of professional-grade production tools it really comes down to scale.

The biggest difference, said Teeley, “is you are in front of and behind the camera at the same time,” but she cautions that there are actually many different types of creators. “When I was talking about going to the independent creator and building out a studio, that’s very different than if you think about like the Mr. Beasts of the world that have huge teams around them,” she continued. “And I think their setup is probably a little bit more similar to what you would get with traditional TV studios in some respects, because they have a larger team.”

The panel also addressed the question of whether — or when — to use live footage versus pre-recorded and edited material. “The great thing about live from my perspective is that you do live and you’re finished. You know, we do a lot of studios for government public affairs, and usually they’re understaffed. It’s usually one on camera person and maybe the PIO, the public affairs officer and a video person,” Nelson said.

“And so one of the things that we really push is that live workflow,” he explained. “You know, I’m going to just record it. It’s an hour discussion. At the end of that hour, I’m finished and I’m moving on to the 50 other things I need to do instead of taping a session and now going into post and spending a day or two editing it.”

Live workflows utilizing this one-and-done approach can still be fraught, Teeley warned. “Just ask Netflix,” she said. “They just went through a situation where they were trying to do you live version of Love is Blind and it never aired because they had technical issues. Live can be very challenging you have to fix things in the moment.”

Video formats are another big consideration for content creators. Social media platforms, said Zeljkovic, “pushed us to the vertical, so they pushed us to do real studio posting.”

“If you are creating for various different types of aspect ratios, try to shoot at least 4K so that when you turn it down you’re not you don’t have to crop anything that you wouldn’t want cropped,” Teeley advised. “So trying to if you’re shooting horizontally, trying to do it in 4K and bring that down to a vertical video, but also pay attention to what’s behind you.”

Audio, the panelists agreed, is one of the most crucial aspects of content creation, and can make or break a production. “Having good audio is the key,” said Canning. “You can have bad video and good audio and still have a good production. If you have bad audio and good video, you’re pooched.”

In addition to hands-on guidance on lighting solutions for beginner creators, the workshop also provided tips for creating a set and selecting appropriate backgrounds. “Don’t be stuck to the wall,” Zeljkovic offered. “Try to go as far as you can out of the wall. Please. Just don’t have shadows on the wall. That’s it. I mean, that’s is the one thing that you should not have. And if you can achieve depth of field, that would be perfect.”

The workshop also emphasized the importance of selecting products and infrastructure that can scale as a creator’s channel grows. “As you transition, it’s your workflow” that needs to scale, said Nelson. “You know, people get into the habit of just doing it all themselves. And in order to scale, you got to design a good workflow for your content. You’re producing the show, your guests, if you have guests, and in in letting your team do their jobs, because as a creator, you’re like, ‘I can do this.’”

Next, Watch This

NAB Show has named the recipients of the 2023 Excellence in Sustainability Awards.

The honorees were announced during a live awards ceremony April 16 at the 2023 NAB Show in Las Vegas.

The Excellence in Sustainability Awards, which is supported by Amazon Web Services, recognize individuals, organizations, and products/services for outstanding innovations in media technology that promote conservation and reusability of natural resources and foster economic and social development.

An independent panel of sustainability experts selected winners in one category each for The Sustainability Champion Award, The Sustainability in Leadership Award, and The Sustainability in Product or Service Award.

“The 2023 NAB Show Excellence in Sustainability Awards honor leaders who have influenced their teams to achieve a more sustainable pathway, organizations that have launched or completed sustainability initiatives, and products or services that significantly improve sustainability or provide sustainable market alternatives,” said NAB Executive Vice President of Global Connections and Events Chris Brown. “We’re beyond grateful for AWS’ support of this award program. This year’s winners can help the content industry meet the critical environmental challenges of today and tomorrow while addressing all stages of the content lifecycle.”

“Amazon is dedicated to net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, and we are proud to join NAB in recognizing individuals and entities that are championing sustainability,” said Marc Aldrich, General Manager of Media & Entertainment at AWS. “Congratulations to the winners for their ongoing commitment to seeing the media technology industry flourish in a sustainable manner now and in the future.”

Proceeds from the inaugural Excellence in Sustainability awards will go to Creative Visions and AWS.

This year’s winners are:

The Sustainability Champion (an Individual)
Chris Brähler, Vice President of Product, SDVI for a small organization.
Larry O’Connor, Founder and CEO, Other World Computing for a medium organization.

The Sustainability in Leadership (an Organization)
Mrs. Greenfilm for a small organization.
Amino for a medium organization.
Media.Monks for a large organization.
Greening of Streaming for a non-profit organization.

The Sustainability in Product or Service Award
SmartFM, WorldCast Systems for a small organization.
X Platform, Appear for a medium organization.
CableOS Broadband Platform, Harmonic for a large organization.

In addition, NAB Show recognized the following companies with Honorable Mentions: Barco, Broadpeak, EVS, IBM, Immersion Room, Varnish Software.