Sending Audio Description from Isadora to the audience?

mark_m

Hello!

In my efforts to make my work more accessible I am proposing to engage an audio describer to create a recorded audio description of our show Natalie Inside Out.
In my ideal world I would be able to send that audio, triggered in Isadora to sync with events in the show, directly to the mobile phones of people in the audience.
I mean, there's got to be an app for that, hasn't there?
Does anyone have any experience, thoughts, ideas, of how to do that? If not via mobile phones some other way? All the venues that we'll be performing at will have Induction loop systems.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Mark (not that Mark)

Woland

@mark_m

I can't walk you through the full details, but my gut instinct is:

QR Code (takes them to a website, so no app to download and don't need to worry about building an app for multiple mobile OS's and models)
You communicate with the website via the Get/Post URL Text actor and tell it in real time exactly when to play specific audio files (which you'd have already uploaded to the server hosting the website).
1. This could be as simple as posting to the secure side of the website or using a special security token, e.g., www.natalie-inside-out.com/[securitytoken]/cue1, www.natalie-inside-out.com/[securitytoken]/cue2, etc.

BvG73

@mark_m

Great thought! Having worked in multiple theatres, I can share that induction systems are typically powered by a dedicated mixer/amplifier that receives audio signals from directional microphones aimed at both the stage and the audience. You should be able to integrate a channel into the mix. Setting this up on the day will require some time and effort, so I recommend contacting the venues in advance. It might be helpful to bring a simple 4-channel desk and a variety of cables specifically for this purpose to facilitate the process. Additionally, ensure there is a technician on site who is familiar with the induction system and aware of your intention to ‘plug in’.

dbini

@mark_m

hiya Mark. Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru have a system called Sibrwd. (Welsh for 'whisper'). https://theatr.cymru/en/the-co... that does exactly this. the back end was originally built in Wordpress - i don't know if they still use Wordpress engine to run the system. maybe you could get some clues from their process....

mark_m

@dbini

Thanks John, I'll get in touch with them and ask about it. Much appreciated.

Videosmith

@mark_m

Could 'ListenTo' plugin work? it's paid, but when I last used it it was really reliable - basically like setting up an internated radio station - users would simply need a website address / QR code

https://audiomovers.com/listen...

Videosmith

@videosmith I also saw a dance piece in Montreal a couple of years for an audience with vision imparments, and they had a live audio description accessible via a mobile phone, and it was a fantastic experience - the voice interpreters were excellent! I really like the fact that you are thinking of this initiative.

Fred

There are a lot of options for this. Do you want to play audio files or trigger text on the phones?

I have done some shows with audience phones and there are a few things I have found. I tried to do this from a local server (a computer on the theater) it was easier setup wise, but required the audience to be on the wifi I took with me. This has issues that can be annoying - if the wifi internet is much slower than the phones 4/5g most iPhones with switch internet to the SIM card and this can mess with access, it is also tough to to get so many phones on a portable network.

Hosting a site remotely requires a bit more work but then you can use https (so browsers won’t complain) and it also means the audience use their own internet. If there is a large audience and you are triggering audio files then you need a fast server, if a lot of people load the site at once then all the audio needs to be downloaded from your server to all the phones. If it is text it is a lot easier.

With a very basic site design you can communicate from some control system via http post or web sockets. Either choice will let you tell the client browsers to play a specific audio file or to display a different piece of text. With an http post request you can do this directly from isadora. If this is text you can even send the text to be triggered from Isadora so it’s a system you can always alter easily.

chagpt can write pretty much all the code for the site very easily. Make web server with nodejs that has the functionality (test locally with isadora), use GitHub for the code so you can update it easily on your server) Rent a VPS (Vultr of Hetzner are good but there is a lot of choices). Transfer your nodejs code and Client JavaScript to the server and make it run with PM2. Get a domain, setup the dns so your domain pints to the server. Setup SSL (generate a certificate and copy it to your vps) and expose the site with NGinx. Test and repair a bit! Then give out the QR code as needed and use the http post request from isadora to trigger whatever you want on time during the show. The latency should be quite low.

There are tons of instructions online for this whole setup. If you are not keen on doing it yourself it shouldn’t be a big job. You can approach your local coder (or dm me?) and it should not cost much to do.

Fred