The Studio at SCA join with Alkira for smart speaker art campaign

Oscar Eckersley, by artist Adam Lester

The Studio at SCA has partnered with voice software company Alkira to support the creation of a series of art installations created with influential artists and visually impaired Australians.

The Queensland Eye Institute Foundation (QEIF) campaign is called ‘Last Seen’ and pitted nine visually impaired Aussies with artists to create paintings of their last visual memory.

The paintings, which include the subjects’ stories and soundscapes, were uploaded via SoundCloud and converted to an interactive smart speaker skill, thanks to Alkira

Creative advertising agency Publicis engaged The Studio at SCA to promote the campaign, and help create the soundscapes to bring the paintings to life.

The paintings and accompanying soundscapes were then auctioned off at the Last Seen launch in Brisbane on November 13.

“The creative concept developed by Publicis immediately brought to mind audio’s ability to create an intimate and immersive experience which could truly honour the stories behind each painting,” said Jeanna Manifold, head of The Studio at SCA Brisbane.

“It’s been a pleasure to work with QEIF and the team at Publicis to create a unique campaign and a suite of assets which sits across all of SCA’s audio platforms.”

Alkira head of partnerships and integration Paige Harkness added; “When we were approached by QEIF the concept immediately struck a chord with the team at Alkira. Our voice engine was initially developed to help people with low or no vision complete day-to-day tasks like grocery shopping or booking flights online.

“The opportunity to work with SCA to develop a first of its kind interactive audio experience for the Last Seen exhibition was a fantastic use of our tech and we are thrilled with how it’s come together.”

“As humankind’s oldest form of communication, voice is such an intuitive and immersive way to tell stories,” said Matt Dickson, The Studio at SCA national head of creativity.

It’s been great to pair this with new tech in the form of a smart speaker skill. For brands, voice is the next frontier and it’s been fantastic to work with QEIF and Alkira to create a groundbreaking, audio experience.”

The Last Seen exhibition can be viewed by the public at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre between now and Sunday, december 1.

To hear the skill on Google smart speakers, say; “Ok Google, talk to Last Seen Exhibition”