Entertainment RTLS
How Eliko Tracked Participants Across Two Floors at LANDER 23
LANDER 23 turned a concrete industrial building in London into a multi-level immersive game. Heavy beams, thick columns and a maze of rooms ruled out Bluetooth and Wi-Fi positioning. Eliko deployed a high-density UWB anchor network with dynamic zones, giving operators a live view of every participant on both floors throughout each session.
Show production challenges
Lag the audience can see
When position data jumps or arrives late, a microphone opens after the actor speaks or a light finds an empty spot. The audience notices before the crew does.
Sets that block the signal
Wood, concrete, metal trusses and small rooms cause reflections and dead zones. Cameras need line of sight, and Bluetooth or RFID are too coarse to trust.
Many people moving at once
Immersive formats put dozens or hundreds of participants in the same space, often across several levels. Every one of them needs a stable position, not a best guess.
Crew time on every show
Manual follow spots and cue calling need skilled operators at every performance. Automation only pays off if the system runs reliably without a technician watching it.
Real-Time Location Tracking for Immersive Experiences and Live Shows
One tracking network can run several applications at once, from automated cues on stage to scoring in an interactive game.
Automated follow systems
Automatic follow spot tracking and actor tracking for stages, theme park shows and touring productions. The system knows where each actor stands and hands that position to your lighting, audio and effects control, so cues fire on position instead of on a timer.
- Turn microphones on and off as actors enter and leave the stage
- Keep moving lights and effects on target without an operator
- Works in non-line-of-sight conditions behind scenery
- Multi-level stage tracking available
Interactive games and immersive play
Location-based entertainment tracking for experiences where visitors touch, chase or collect projected content. Low latency and 30 cm accuracy let a visitor’s position count as the game input.
- Detect when a player steps onto a projected object
- Link each tag to a player profile and score through the API
- Monitor tag battery levels in real time between sessions
- Scale to hundreds of simultaneous players
Participant and visitor tracking
Visitor tracking for immersive attractions, escape rooms and promenade theatre. Operators see where every participant is, on every floor, and can steer the experience as it happens.
- Live overview of groups and individuals across levels
- Dynamic zones that trigger content when visitors arrive
- Movement data to tune flow, dwell time and capacity
Show safety and proximity
Geofences around moving set pieces, lifts and stage machinery warn crew and performers before they get too close. The same proximity technology Eliko runs in heavy industry, applied backstage.
- Alerts when people enter a preset range of moving equipment
- Low-latency warnings over UWB
- Integration with show control for automatic stops
The Eliko team were absolutely instrumental in turning the ambitious technical vision for Punchdrunk’s Lander 23 into reality. Their teams demonstrated exceptional dedication, flexibility, and problem-solving abilities, adapting rapidly to our evolving requirements and helping us deliver an ambitious immersive experience on time.
Quite simply, Eliko was a key partner in making Lander 23 the experience we envisioned, and we couldn’t have achieved the same level of execution without them.
Eliko were a pleasure to work with. They were proactively supportive and always conscious of our needs. Their responsiveness despite the time zone difference of their headquarters made a huge difference in our ability to painlessly implement their technology. Their product is exceptional, but their commitment to supporting our work was what really allowed our experiences to shine.
Reliable
30 cm ±20 cm accuracy through set walls, concrete and crowds.
Fast
Update rates up to 75 Hz for responsive, low-latency cues.
Scalable
Track hundreds of performers, props and visitors in one network.
Open
API access to positions, battery status and timestamps for your show control or game engine. API access to positions, battery status and timestamps for your show control or game engine.
Supported
Network design, installation and on-site tuning that fits a live production schedule.
Experienced
10+ years of UWB development and productions in the UK, France and the US.
It’s a real-time location system that follows actors, dancers or presenters on stage and sends their position to lighting, audio and automation. Performers wear a small tag; anchors around the venue measure distances to it and calculate the position many times per second.
UWB measures the time a radio pulse takes to travel, which gives 30 cm level accuracy and works without line of sight. Bluetooth and RFID give only approximate positions that cause visible lag. UWB works best together with cameras in high-speed environments. Cameras struggle to identify performers, something that UWB RTLS does very reliably. However, radio cannot compete with the speed of camera-based tracking.
Yes. Eliko RTLS location data can be used to activate microphones, sound and lighting effects based on each actor’s position, with no technician needed during the show.
Cosmic CAMP in New York tracked up to 200 players at a time. However, it all depends on how often do you need tracking for and how large is the overall tracking area. You can fit around 400 position updates into a 30x30m space – this means 400 people can be tracked at 1 Hz or 200 people at 2 Hz.
Eliko RTLS provides API access to coordinates, distances, battery status and timestamps. You can learn more about the API and integrations at our support page.
