Music Walk of Fame
AR in the Streets of London
On 19th November 2019, London’s Camden Town officially became home to the global Music Walk of Fame. Designed as a new cultural attraction for London, The Music Walk of Fame is set to become a huge accolade for the music industry. November’s launch saw the augmented reality embedded Founding Stone and The Who unveiled as the first artist to receive the award, at a special ceremony attended by music legends. This was followed by stones for local legends Madness, Amy Winehouse and Soul II Soul in March 2020, with many more icons from around the world due to be honoured in the months ahead.
After growing speculation in the weeks leading up to November’s launch, it was revealed that the recipient of the first ever Music Walk of Fame artist stone were none other than global music icons The Who.
Flanked by a moped parade reflecting their famous mod-era heritage, surviving members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend accepted the accolade from Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie, with the Arcade team present to celebrate the launch and demo the experience to assembled journalists and music royalty.
Arcade were selected as partners to design, create and provide the AR experiences that can be triggered by each stone. Using a free app, visitors can bring each stone to life and access the AR experience that is revealed. To date, that includes hearing exclusive content ahead of The Who’s latest album release, joining the Madness ‘nutty train’, taking a memorial photograph of sadly-missed icon Amy Winehouse on the streets she loved so much, and getting ‘back to life’ with Soul II Soul.
Importantly, we developed these experiences to trigger directly from the stones themselves, ‘anchoring’ the AR in physical, real-world objects. The effect is believable, ‘authentic’ digital experiences that feel real, even though we know they are not. Over time, the AR experiences are expected to develop and push boundaries even further. Visitors to the Walk can expect unseen, rare and exclusive footage, 3D art, augmented reality performances and more. Stay tuned!
As Londoners, it’s very surreal to be immortalised in stone on Camden High Street, and it’s quite something to know that people can pop by and see us anytime, albeit virtually.
With augmented reality it gives the chance for people to learn about the artist, hear new music, hear old music, get content they wouldn’t normally be able to find anywhere else.
