ITU researchers want to bring classical music to you
Is it possible to use technology to bring arts and music closer to people? This is one of the purposes of the research project XTREME, which is investigating how mixed reality can be used to bring music and art experiences to audiences that otherwise have some barriers to experience them.
Sami BrandtJustyna StarostkaResearchdigital art
Written 17 June, 2025 11:46 by mesm
Imagine a classical music concert happening right in your living room. Suddenly one of the walls disappear and from the behind it a troupe of dancers join the show. This seems impossible, but with new mixed reality (MR) technology, researchers led from ITU are making it possible.
“We wanted to do technology research, and then we wanted to have an arts and culture application on that. So, the framework of our project is that instead of a person going to a performing arts event, we want to take the event to their homes using an XR (extended reality) headset. This will make it possible to experience an event with your friends, even if you are not in the same physical location and you will all experience it in three dimensions. We want to maximize the sense of being there, while also using the possibilities of extended reality,” says Professor Sami S. Brandt.
The project is using brand new technology for the purpose of taking performing arts out of its typical settings and bringing it to a wider audience. Sami S. Brandt is the PI of the project called XTREME – “Mixed Reality Environment for Immersive Experience of Art and Culture”. It is an EU-funded Horizon Europe project that started in January 2024. The researchers collaborate with both research, technology and art institutions from all over Europe. Since 2024 they have been developing related technologies, to be able to create the mixed reality experiences.
“We are reaching the midpoint of the project. Until now we have been gathering data and learning a lot of new methods and tools. Soon we will be able to demonstrate our results.” says postdoc and project and communication manager Justyna Starostka.
“One of our milestones is that by the end of this year, we should have an evaluation prototype ready so that we can do some user experiments. These are done by our Irish partner. So basically, we should have a technological solution available, that can be used in different productions,” says Sami S. Brandt.
The first results are based on data collected last year. The research team went to England to record Irish classical and folk musicians and dancers performing. The recording in November was a preparation for the next round of data collection.
“Last year we went to Nottingham, and we had a string quartet from Irish Chamber Orchestra play for us, and then we had two Irish folk musicians and a dancer. We had a couple of days with them where we captured them playing classical music and Irish folk music. This was the first data capture, that will prepare us for the bigger data capture with more than 20 musicians playing,” says Sami S. Brandt, and Justyna Starostka continues:
“These musicians were not used to working with technology, so there was an interesting tension between the classical music and our technological setup. They were intrigued with all the equipment; they suddenly had to deal with. There was a lot of cameras and microphones around them, and during this experience both sides of the project were learning from each other.”
Irish folk musicians playing as part of the XTREME project. Photo credit: Christian Sivertsen Creating new possibilities
Bringing classical music out of the concert halls and closer to people is just one of the outcomes of the XTREME project. They will also do a collaboration with the MUNCH museum in Oslo, which aims to make art more intriguing for a younger audience.
“The MUNCH production is different from the other parts of the project, as this will physically happen at the MUNCH museum and here at ITU. MUNCH has commissioned two artists, Silvana Imam and Paula Strunden, who are working together on developing an artistic MR experience that will happen simultaneously at MUNCH and ITU. An important part of that experience is the spatial sound component, which we are experimenting with in our 4DSOUND lab here at ITU,” says Justyna Starostka.
The XTREME project is investigating many different and new ways to combine arts and technology. This project is just the beginning of the road for how mixed reality can be used to both bring arts and music closer to people but also experiencing arts and music in a whole new way. These many new ways of using MR and XR have not been tried before.
“I believe we are doing something groundbreaking with this project by being the middle space between those great artists, and people who have never worked with anything but art and then matching them up with these super specialised tech scientists. It’s exciting and our overall goal is that we are bringing art closer to people,” says Justyna Starostka and is backed up by Sami S. Brandt:
“Our project is extreme in that sense that it takes the newest science like AI and XR computation and combine it with arts. It is a challenge to make it work, but it is also an opportunity to create some very interesting results, where one might be that we can bring arts and music to people who have limitations that make them unable to experience it.”
Theis Duelund Jensen, Press Officer, phone +45 2555 0447, email thej@itu.dk