Case study: World of WearableArt deliver a bespoke audio experience with Event Sync

_{Hero image credit: Boundless in Motion, Mellonia Gray, University of Northampton, United Kingdom}

Each year, World of WearableArt (WOW) transforms Wellington’s TSB Arena into an immersive fusion of wearable art and spectacle. For the 2025 season, the WOW team wanted to offer a new way for audiences to engage with the craftspersonship and stories behind the garments featured on stage.

To achieve this, WOW introduced a synchronised audio guide using Event Sync. Offered as an optional add-on, the guide delivered in-depth commentary perfectly synchronised with the stage performance, allowing guests to learn more about each garment as it appeared. The experience blended seamlessly with the show’s energy: the stage soundtrack continued as usual, while Event Sync provided a parallel interpretive layer accessible through guests' own devices and headphones.

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Immersion without the hardware

Traditional hardware setups for long-form audio guides can be cumbersome for users and front-of-house teams, managing distribution, returns, and signal coverage for hundreds of devices.

WOW turned to Event Sync for a completely hardware-free solution, delivered through audience members' personal headphones and accessed via a simple URL.

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A white-label solution provided additional benefits. The marketing and production teams used the Console to:

• Apply WOW’s branding across the app’s interface
• Upload supporting text content
• Customise the access page and messaging

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Co-creating new capabilities

WOW’s team identified two specific needs: a secure access model to offer the audio guide exclusively to purchasers, and a way to ensure an uninterrupted experience over a longer duration than our typical events.

Pladia’s product roadmap is directly influenced by customer needs, so the team developed a new gated access feature to meet the first requirement. Our engineers also optimised the platform to ensure users could lock their device and continue listening seamlessly, a crucial improvement for usability during a long performance.

This resulted in a successful trial that proved a potential new revenue stream for WOW, along with further meeting WOW’s customers desires to get closer to the detail. This customer-driven development strengthened the Event Sync platform, and these features are now standard for all customers.

WOW Show Producer Lucie Camp says she was impressed with the speed and flexibility of the Event Sync team.

“Event Sync were incredible in listening to our unique needs and ensuring we could adapt the platform to work for us and our audience. We’re excited to build on this trial and continue working together to develop and optimise this new way of celebrating and sharing the incredible detail designers put into their work.”

Bring synchronised audio to your next production

Event Sync is designed for live events, performances, and cultural experiences of all sorts.

Book a demo to see it in action, or contact the Pladia team at hello@pladia.io to learn more about adding an audio guide to your next event.

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