IN PROFILE
DISGUISE: A 2020 REVIEW disguise CTO, Ed Plowman discusses the company’s latest releases – vx 1 and vx 2 media servers – and how the rise in virtual events is likely to alter the events landscape. TPi’s Stew Hume reports...
During the trying adjustment period of 2020, whether you were involved in corporate events, sports or live music, one piece of common ground which organisers the world over shared was the move towards virtual events as a temporary replacement for their physical counterparts. From rudimentary livestream sets on social media to the involvement of more complex virtual studios with content creators, the exploration of virtual events, along with AR (augmented reality) and XR (extended reality) have added an extra dimension to the ‘virtual conversation’. Having already worked on this technology for several years, disguise has been at the heart of many of the most notable virtual projects of 2020. Just before closing out the year, the company announced two new offerings – the vx 1 and vx 2 media servers – to help yet more individuals enter the dynamic world of virtual events. Taking some time out of his busy
schedule, disguise CTO, Ed Plowman discussed some of the lessons learned from last year, and how he predicts this new form of event delivery will affect the overall entertainment landscape. “Like everyone else, in March, all our shows in the live environment were cancelled,” Plowman reflected. “Now, there are two things you can do in that situation – either mothball everything or pivot your focus.” No prizes for guessing which option disguise took, especially as the firm had already been developing several offerings for some time that were about to be in very high demand. “Prior to March, we had already seen some acceleration on the xR side of the business. But post-March, the phone was ringing off the hook with a number of virtual productions getting in touch.” Through this time, disguise has reported over 100 xR stages have been built in over 30 countries, with many more planned as the industry starts 46
