With summer music festival season in full swing across Europe, hundreds of thousands of music lovers are enjoying the live sights and sounds of the biggest names in pop and rock. But what if fans could experience the event from the same point of view as the artists – swapping the audience for the stage? That’s exactly what is on offer at Madrid’s Mad Cool festival thanks to an on-site 5G-powered virtual reality experience by Ericsson and Orange Spain.

Orange Spain is the official sponsor of the July 6-10 festrival, which will see 60,000 daily fans enjoying perfomances from dozens of rock, pop and Indie stars, including headline acts such as Metallica, Imagine Dragons, Muse, the Killers, Florence + the Machine, the Pixies, and Jack White.

To make the unique immersive reality experience possible, Ericsson and Orange Spain are using 5G connectivity with virtual reality (VR) glasses that collect real-time images captured by three panoramic cameras strategically located on the stage.

The images are projected on a video wall at an Orange Spain company stand at the festival site. Stand visitors can use VR glasses to interact with the projections, allowing fans to enjoy the festival as if they are actually on stage with the artists.

Ericsson’s indoor solution, the Ericsson Radio Dot System, is providing dedicated 5G coverage during the Mad Cool Festival. The solution, which is based on multi-band small cell technology, ensures seamless connectivity to the VR glasses despite high volumes of data traffic on site.

In addition, all fans with Orange 5G subscriptions attending the festival can benefit from improved connectivity across the venue. Four mid-band TDD (Time Division Duplex) 5G macro cells, using Ericsson Antenna-Integrated Radio (AIR) technology, are providing seamless mobility user experiences for all attendees who connect to Orange’s mobile network during the event.

Sonia Rico, Director of Brand, Communication and Sponsorships, Orange Spain, says:” This is the first musical event sponsored by Orange. Following a hiatus due to COVID-19, we want to celebrate the return of Mad Cool by guaranteeing the best connectivity, for both the public and the organizers, through our state-of-the-art 5G and fiber networks. In addition, thanks to virtual reality, we can offer a unique experience to attendees – the union of digital and human – which we hope will be unforgettable.”

Iván Rejón, Director of Marketing and Communication, Ericsson Iberia, says:” Technology is reimagining the future of the culture and entertainment industry. The use of 5G and the technologies it enables, such as virtual or mixed reality, opens the doors to inexhaustible possibilities. Thanks to Orange’s 5G network and Ericsson’s 5G technology, connectivity enabling festival goers to enjoy a more immersive experience – placing them at the center of the action.”