Dataton media servers join Björk Digital tour

Icelandic music icon Björk’s VR experience “Björk Digital” continued its world tour with a 16-day sojourn in Los Angeles. Dataton’s WATCHOUT multi-display system and WATCHPAX 4 media servers provided the immersive visuals at the heart of the installation.

Björk Digital, a series of innovative virtual reality works, has already transported audiences in London, Montreal and Houston. For its west coast debut in Los Angeles this May, Dataton provided a WATCHOUT multi-display system for one of the centerpieces of the exhibition: Black Lake, a custom-built immersive space commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Black Lake, originally shown as part of MoMa’s 2015 Björk retrospective, features ultra-wide screen video projections and a bespoke 50-speaker sound system. Dataton WATCHOUT playing out on WATCHPAX 4 media servers provides synchronised playback of the artwork, enveloping visitors in a previously unexplored visual and auditory world.

“Technology should enhance and empower,” said Trond Solvold, Sales Director, Dataton. “The exhibit has a tough touring schedule ahead; everything is shipped around the world and has to be installed in venues in a limited time. With its four times 4K performance, compact size and robust profile WATCHPAX 4 was the perfect solution for the installation.”

Björk Digital consists of a series of works created by Björk together with world-renowned directors, programmers and visual artists. Visitors experience the works through the latest in immersive and virtual reality technology.

Following its stint at the Magic Box at the Reef in LA, Björk Digital will travel to Spain, opening for a two-month run at Barcelona’s Centre for Contemporary Culture on July 14. This coincides with the 2017 Sónar Festival, where the artist is expected to celebrate the opening night with a four-hour DJ set at Fira Montjuïc’s SonarHall stage. Additionally, Björk will also give a talk at Sónar + D, a congress of digital culture and creative technologies, which focuses on the latest advances in artificial intelligence and virtual reality applied to the arts.