Outboard’s TiMax Tracker system combines Ubisense’s SmartSpace software with its own spatial zone mapping application, managing precise ultra-wideband location-tracking hardware to control automated vocal localisation in the live performance and presentation sectors. Ubisense’s battery-powered miniature tags (TT tags) are worn by performers and the signals they emit are picked up by Ubisense readers (TT sensors) mounted around the performance area. The SmartSpace platform analyses the xyz data from the readers in real-time, following the performers as they move around the stage within 15cm accuracy. The TiMax Tracker spatialisation app then sends audio localisation control instructions to the TiMax2 SoundHub audio matrix.
With five Ubisense readers installed at the FNO, the major audio renovation was completed in time for the sell-out show of Phantom of the Opera. The production’s large number of soloists, chorus and dancers meant TiMax spatialisation automation was a significant factor in achieving a level of authenticity and impact to match the high production standards of the FNO.
Tokyo’s New National Theatre (NNTT) installed a 32-channel TiMax2 SoundHub-S32 and TiMax Tracker system with six Ubisense readers and 32 of its tags. This delivered adaptable provision of automated vocal localisation and audio show control in both the main ‘Playhouse’ auditorium and also the smaller ‘Pit’ theatre.
Outboard has been incorporating Ubisense’s technology into its solution portfolio for more than eight years, during which time more than a hundred permanent or temporary installations have taken place across the globe.
Dave Haydon at Outboard said: “It’s been great working with FNO and the New National Theatre in Tokyo, two establishments that demand high-quality solutions to deliver their audiences the very best in sound quality. We’ve been using Ubisense’s technology for a number of years now and it gives our systems unparalleled precision when tracking performers around the stage.”
CTO at Ubisense, Andy Ward, said: “Dave and Robin at Outboard have created an amazing range of products for use in entertainment and event productions around the world and we’re delighted that they’re using Ubisense products to such great effect. We may be best known in the manufacturing world, where our systems are often used to track assets, but our technology is being used more than ever before to track a range of people in real-time, from doctors and their patients to sports stars and performers.”