The concept of live entertainment has shifted somewhat dramatically over the last 100 years. For instance, thanks to radio and TV, the audience's position has significantly changed as performers and viewers no longer need to be in the same room as the performers.
Live Streaming Changed the Game
More recently, the internet brought live streaming to the forefront. Today, you can watch almost anyone doing virtually anything from the smartphone in your hand. Prominent examples of this shift in dynamics are live games at online casinos. Viewers, in this example, are also participants. However, these participants don’t have to be in the same room to play live casino games such as Crazy Time Live.
What’s, perhaps, more interesting is the fact people aren't simply players in these games. Players are also viewers because the games have show-like qualities. Dealers are trained to converse with players and make the experience as entertaining as possible. Certain games are also based on popular TV shows, such as Deal or No Deal. So, what players get when they tune in is a hybrid experience that’s part game, part show.
As such, live games fit perfectly with the dictionary definition of “live”. They’re broadcasting something as it happens and, in turn, a performance is being put on for the audience. The technology that goes into live games is somewhat interesting, but it’s the impact of technology on the future of entertainment that’s more interesting.
The dynamics of entertainment have moved in line with technology over the last 100 years, but what can we expect to happen in the future? All the signs point to virtual reality (VR) continuing what innovations such as live casino games started.
Virtual Reality Can Reconnect Performers and Audiences
However, with VR, the viewer experience can be even more immersive. Mark Zuckerberg showed what’s possible back in 2016 when he played table tennis against the President of Indonesia, despite being thousands of miles apart. We don’t need VR technology to play games against people miles away from us. But, what’s significant about VR, is that it puts you inside the action.
You go from watching something on a screen to being in it. This makes the live element more immediate and engaging. In time, our definition of live entertainment will change again. In a way, we’ll have come full circle.
Live entertainment went from being an in-person experience to an impersonal one. Plays, for example, are a form of in-person live entertainment, while radio and TV removed the personal element as audiences no longer had a physical presence and, therefore, a connection with the performers.
Live streaming reintroduced an element of interaction and, in the future, VR technology will build on this. It might not be “in-person” as we used to know it, but it will feel like there isn’t any metaphorical distance between performers and audiences.
VR concerts could feel very similar to an in-person experience. That’s interesting. Things like TV and radio made entertainment more accessible. This, in turn, inspired new forms of entertainment.
However, we lost a sense of connection between performers and audiences in the process. Modern technology is bringing it back. It might not be quite the same, but we’re moving to a place where live entertainment is not only easily accessible but something we can get virtually close to.
