Edinburgh audio firm helps make noise for Björk

Icelandic singer-songwriter Bjork. Picture: NYT

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AN EDINBURGH software company which specialises in three-dimensional audio for the games and virtual reality markets has played a key role in the creation of a new music video for Icelandic artist Björk.

Two Big Ears – founded in 2013 by University of Edinburgh graduates Varun Nair and Abesh Thakur – partnered with Third Space Agency and digital production specialist Rewind to create the “360-degree virtual reality video” for the new single Stonemilker, taken from the acclaimed album Vulnicura.

The video – shot in Iceland using a 360-degree camera – can run on a smartphone and is shown on a new virtual reality headset developed by Proteus VR Labs.

Thakur, chief executive of Two Big Ears, said: “Björk’s vision of bringing the listener to the beach in Iceland, where the song was written and the film was shot, compelled us to push the envelope of what is possible on mobile in virtual reality.”

The firm’s audio technology is said to be up to 29 times faster than competing products.