Auracast™ Broadcast Audio in Action:
How Silent Awa Odori Transformed a
Traditional Dance Into an Immersive
Audio Experience

In 2023, Auracast™ broadcast audio, a key feature of the new Bluetooth^® LE Audio standard, garnered widespread attention and sparked excitement for its vast technological potential across the audio industry. Now, progress is steadily being made toward practical implementation of this groundbreaking technology, as demonstrated at a unique public event called the Silent Awa Odori held in April 2024 by Silent Street Music Promotion Secretariat and Toshiba Information Systems (Japan) Corporation.

Hosted in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, the Silent Awa Odori took the traditional Japanese Awa Odori folk dance and transformed it into a silent yet immersive experience using wireless headphones and earbuds. Rather than relying on loud music blasting from speakers, which can disturb surrounding neighborhoods, this innovative approach allowed participants to enjoy the iconic dance performance through their personal audio devices.

The Silent Awa Odori event successfully showcased one of the primary use cases that Auracast™ broadcast audio can enable – providing people the ability to enjoy music and audio in public spaces where loud sounds are typically not permitted or could be intrusive to others in surrounding areas. Attendees were provided with headphones or earbuds and could choose between two synchronized live audio channels: one featuring the authentic, traditional music that typically accompanies Awa Odori dances, and the other offering pulsating techno sets performed by local DJs. This simultaneous access to two distinct audio streams created a unique, multi-dimensional experience for the audience.

Enabling Seamless Multi-Broadcast Experiences

At the core of the Silent Awa Odori event was a showcase of Auracast™ broadcast audio’s capabilities. Unlike traditional Bluetooth audio connections that are limited to one-to-one device pairing, this new Bluetooth LE Audio feature allows an unlimited number of receiving devices to listen to the same audio broadcast. During the event, organizers set up two separate Auracast™ broadcasts, allowing attendees to simply switch between the two channels on their receivers to seamlessly experience either the classical Awa Odori music or the techno DJ sets without any interruption. Crucially, the music on both Auracast™ streams remained perfectly synchronized, ensuring a coherent experience for participants regardless of which audio stream they tuned into.

The Future of Auracast™ Broadcast Audio

The real-world demonstration of Auracast™ broadcast audio at the Silent Awa Odori dance event is a significant milestone that underscores its technical viability and readiness for broader adoption. Auracast™ broadcast audio’s ability to deliver high-quality, synchronous audio streams to an unlimited number of listeners opens up exciting new possibilities across various sectors. From enabling silent musical performances and audio tours in public spaces without noise disruptions to providing immersive multi-broadcast experiences at live events and theme parks, the potential applications are vast.

The successful Silent Awa Odori event was merely the first step in showcasing the capabilities of Auracast™ broadcast audio to the world. As more innovative use cases emerge and consumer adoption increases, Auracast™ broadcast audio will play a pivotal role in reshaping how we experience and interact with audio in shared environments.

A new suite of best practice guidelines was recently released to help audio product developers bring Auracast™ broadcast audio to life. Learn more.