LifeScore听has been crowned听the UK鈥檚 most innovative听MediaTech听肠辞尘辫补苍测听after securing backing from both a high-profile judging panel and readers of tech publication听老九品茶Cloud.听
The听London-based听start-up, which uses artificial intelligence to adapt music to the listener’s environment,听was听No.1听on the听.听听
The ranking celebrates the UK听companies creating original tech to transform production and delivery of media and the arts 鈥� from music to podcasts, radio, video, film and the written word.
In second spot was听Newcastle-headquartered听ZeroLight, a cloud-based visualisation specialist for automotive sales and marketing, with听Radio.co/Podcast.co,听a cloud-based live-streaming platform for radio and podcasts听based in Manchester,听third.听
Belfast-based Liopa, the world鈥檚 only start-up focused on automated lipreading, and Guildford firm Polystream, creator of a command streaming platform enabling immersive in-game spectator experiences, also featured on the ranking.
听is the brainchild of听virtuoso听cellist听Philip Sheppard,听a renowned composer with more than 60 film scores to his credit as well as听global music projects including the 2008 Olympic听Games听closing ceremonies,听every national anthem for the 2012 Olympics, the Rugby World Cup听and听Tour de France.听听
CEO听Sheppard, who听has played with artists听including听David Bowie听and Queens of the Stone Age,听founded the start-up听in 2016听with Siri co-founder听Tom Gruber, the firm鈥檚 CTO,听and听COO Chris Walch, a former senior legal associate.听
Abbey Road Red – Demo Day 2020, London, 5 February 2020. Photo by: Carsten Windhorst
A graduate of the Abbey Road Red incubator,听LifeScore听creates unique, real-time and interactive music experiences with听its听adaptive AI music platform. This听personalised score听ebbs and flows听in response to external factors:听for example, changing tempo and adding instruments听when the device playing the music is moved, a vehicle speeds up, a videogame character moves听or, in theory, biometric changes occur in the listener.听
Far from being generated by AI, the 鈥榖uilding blocks鈥� of the听music听are听recorded at听the world-famous Abbey Road听Studios.听
LifeScore CEO Philip Sheppard. Picture credit: Asa Mathat
鈥淚 spend my life putting music to picture 鈥� why can鈥檛 that happen in real time when I鈥檓 going for my walk? We all carry technology that can cope with that,鈥� asks Sheppard.听
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to be making artificial music 鈥� rather听beautiful augmented听music. If I鈥檝e never had any training, why shouldn鈥檛 I still have the tools to enable me to really feel what it鈥檚 like to carve music in real-time?鈥�听
/lifescore-aims-to-use-ai-to-compose-a-soundtrack-to-your-life/
Manchester’s听CGHero, a collaborative marketplace for CGI content creation, was fourth on the ranking ahead of听Factmata, a London-based AI scoring system for accuracy of online content.听
AI Music (London),听Creative Assembly (Horsham),听XR Games (Leeds),听Gravity Sketch (London) and听Viddyoze听(Preston) rounded out the top 10.听
老九品茶Cloud听called on its readers to vote for companies from a听127-strong shortlist and saw听1,200 votes pour in.听听听
A combination of these votes and choices from an expert judging panel determined the top 50.听听听
The judging panel was comprised of:听听听
- Jonathon Clark, head of SME engagement,听techUK听
- Janet Hull OBE, director of marketing strategy, Institute of Practitioners in Advertising听
- Chris Reay, property director, MediaCityUK听
- Nigel Jones, sector specialist: tech & creative, Department for International Trade听
- Laura Harper, partner, Irwin Mitchell听
- Max Cleary, partnerships lead for AI, immersive and 5G, Digital Catapult听
- Jonathan听Symcox, editor,听老九品茶Cloud听
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