Summ’it aims to connect audiences through audio storytelling
LONDON — Virtual reality has been a significant topic of discussion in technological circles over the last decade. Its biggest impact has been in gaming and presentations, where people can move through virtual worlds. Other areas of entertainment and media have also been looking at how VR can not only bring new and different experiences to their audiences but also provide practical tools, as with the design of new radio studios at BBC Broadcasting House in London last year.
Computer-aided design and 3D modeling programs such as 3DS MAX, SketchUp and Autodesk Revit — actually a 4D building information modeling application — have been involved in the creation of BBC and commercial facilities in recent years. While these have brought greater flexibility and give a sense of what the space may be like in reality, the images are limited in terms of how all the equipment and furniture relate to each other.
Today’s studios feature microphones and computer monitor screens on adjustable arms, so sightlines in rooms are becoming increasingly crucial to ensure that the presenter and guests can see each other and that visualization cameras can clearly see them. In addition, accessibility is mandatory.
This imperative led those designing new studios as part of the expansion of the Pop Hub complex at BH to apply virtual techniques being worked on by the BBC’s research and development department. The relocation project aimed to unite all the broadcaster’s popular national music stations — Radio 1, Radio 1Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 6 Music and the Asian Network — within BH. This involved moving the Radio 2 and Radio 6 Music studios from nearby Wogan House, where the lease was due to end in April 2024, into newly built sections of the existing Pop Hub.
Cross collaboration
Dave Walters, principal solution lead for audio production at BBC Technology & Media Operations, approached BBC R&D engineer Spencer Marsden to see if VR could be used in the design and construction of these areas. “Dave’s aim was to help stakeholders get a sense of what the studios would feel like,” Marsden comments. “We saw it as an opportunity to use VR creation tools but also in another context while having a cross-BBC collaboration. It was a way of nurturing 3D creation skill sets and culture within the wider BBC.”
Marsden works at the Blue Room, a research and demo lab within BBC R&D that researches trends in consumer technology and media and their audience behaviors. Because radio studios are practical working environments, Marsden decided he needed operational input on how studio spaces function, as well as someone familiar with virtual technologies. For this, he brought in Thadeous Matthews, a multi-skill technical operator with BBC North TV Operations. “I had worked with Thadeous on a couple of VR projects before and appreciated his ability to get 3D content spun up quickly,” Marsden says.
Matthews comments that over his time at the BBC, gallery and office spaces have become “increasingly more flexible” regarding accessibility. “This involves offering a catalog of support in the form of chairs, desks and other modular furniture for operators,” he says. “However, the Pop Hub project has demonstrated a duty of care far beyond what I’ve seen previously with its use of new technologies.” In the presentation on the Pop Hub installation project at Radio TechCon 2024, Walters acknowledged accessibility was “a priority,” with powered, height-adjustable furniture and tactile touch screens in the studio areas, plus step-free access and the studios being less than 40 meters from restroom facilities.
On the same page
From a technology perspective, Marsden explains that the Blue Room features a selection of VR and augmented reality (AR) devices, which he felt gave insight into the technology and how it could be used. “You get a sense of the development and learning ecosystem around a product, how shareable content is and any dependencies there might be on external tools such as Unreal Engine or Unity,” he says. “It feels like 3D content is on the way, and for the Blue Room, I have built VR demonstrator content, holographic demos featuring BBC intellectual property and run virtual presentations from within games engines.”
Broadcasting House. Image: BBC
The Pop Hub design project utilized Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 5 graphics system, Blender 3D graphics software for modeling CAD and what Marsden describes as “existing, trusted reference documentation.” He adds that filesharing was essential to ensure that the latest CAD templates were used as the design source. “We made sure everyone was on the same page. There can be a bewildering array of sharing options and sharing paths, so it’s important to establish a standard at the start,” he says.
The virtual representations of the proposed studio layouts were visualized through Meta Quest 2 VR headsets, which enabled Marsden and Matthews to ‘move’ around the room to ensure the on-air console was in the correct position and the sightlines were workable. “We populated the space with equipment,” Marsden explains. Once the desk is installed, it can’t be moved easily. So, we checked that everything, including speakers, mic arms and the desk, was in the right place.”
A real-world sense
Matthews comments that the visualizations gave “a real-world sense” of the eye lines and what moving around in the space was like. He adds that the process involved loading 2D drawings into Blender for 3D generation, which was then imported into Unreal Engine to create the virtual environments. “The visual code was taking CAD instructions,” he says. “We could work procedurally [procedural design involves algorithms and rules to produce shapes, structural objects and other material], allowing us to monitor different versions and discuss them in real-time.”
Marsden hopes this technique continues to be used for studio design but for practical reasons rather than as a novelty. “As long as the value add is more than ‘Hey, that’s cool,'” he says. “VR offers useful things like preventing miscommunication, unsuitable furniture procurement and operationally restrictive cable runs. The challenge is that the toolset is a bit niche, with games engines and 3D tools, but I hope it will all become second nature as the end-user equipment—headsets and AR glasses—become more ubiquitous and affordable.”
In the future, virtual design could be further developed through AR delivery and mobile phones. Whatever the final system, designing radio studios has the potential to enter new realms.
The author trained as a radio journalist and worked for British Forces Broadcasting Services Radio as a technical operator, producer and presenter before moving into magazine writing during the late 1980s. He recently returned to radio through his involvement in an online station where he lives on the south coast of England.
This article originally appeared in RedTech’s special edition The Innovators 2025. You can read it here.
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