Throughout history technology has offered artists and musicians new modes of expression that continue to transform the way we create and consume music. DELQA is an interactive installation that allows the audience to physically go inside a song created by critically acclaimed music producer and artist, Matthew Dear. A large aluminium frame with mesh walls, housed a 44-channel spatial audio system that allowed people to experience the installation in 3D. As people interacted physically with the elements around them, Microsoft’s Kinect technology detected their movements and shaped the composition in real time, essentially allowing people to create their own version of the song. The vision was to create a dynamic and immersive environment that would push the relationship between music and technology - blurring the lines between creator and audience.

DELQA was a three-month program with the centrepiece being the live installation, open to the general public at the New Museum in New York City. We assembled a team of architects, media artists and sound designers to construct the interactive environment. The venue was chosen for its reputation and relevance with the target audience. We used cost-effective methods to document the process allowing us to produce a series of teaser videos, tailored to particular segments within the target audience. This allowed us to seed the concept to targeted press and tastemakers through direct and social channels. We invited creators and influencers from the New York music and technology communities to the launch, and utilized our partners and social media to amplify beyond the core audience. As part of the legacy, we further extended our reach with creators by offering open source tools on GitHub.

Thousands of people experienced the installation live at the New Museum driving organic conversation that saw #DELQA generate over 4M impressions over the first few days. Most of the credible major publications spanning technology, music, art, and culture celebrated the project culminating in a reach of over 50 Million. Video content generated over 130K views. In the consumer research 78% of the “creators” surveyed said they were interested in learning more about the Kinect, in addition to an overall lift of 12% points in positivity about Microsoft with many expressing more excitement about what the brand is currently doing. Due to the overwhelming response the concept will now live on. We are currently working with musicians like Grimes, Alt-J and others to bring new versions to some of the most credible festivals, museums and events around the globe.

DELQA was an authentic creative collaboration between Microsoft and the critically acclaimed musician Matthew Dear. We worked with Matthew to compose an original song for this project, and then innovated with Microsoft’s Kinect technology to create an entirely new way for people to experience the song live. The success of this project has paved the way for this method of live experience to used by other high profile musicians around the world.

For such a particular demographic we knew credibility would be critical, so the strategy focused on authenticity with innovation, and was tested by inviting influential people from the target audience to participate. We began with an audit of the music community (creators, industry and fans) to identify where authentic use cases of Microsoft technology existed, which we used as triggers for ideation. We also rigorously researched what else had been happening in the space to set the bar for ideation against what would be newsworthy with opinion leaders and our desired media. Once the core creative idea came together, we assembled a team of creators from the music and tech community, then looked for a musician whose fan base matched the desired target for the brand. From there we continued to develop the idea with the team to ensure it provided strong storytelling opportunities for the brand, without impacting credibility.

Microsoft briefed us to look for opportunities where their technology could empower the music ecosystem by creating meaningful roles for their products in ways that would drive brand favorability. Their ambition was to improve brand perception with the hard-to-reach audience of cultural influencers and creators, specifically in the music and technology community.