HIVE powers Eric Prydz Holosphere 2.0 at Ibiza residency

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10 July 2025

HIVE powers Eric Prydz Holosphere 2.0 at Ibiza residency

Beeblade Nexus delivers flawless 4K60 video mapped onto a transparent spherical LED stage for Ibiza’s biggest ever show at [UNVRS] superclub

When Eric Prydz returned to Ibiza with Holosphere 2.0, fans knew they were in for something extraordinary. Staged weekly throughout the season at the brand-new [UNVRS] superclub, Holosphere 2.0 has been billed as Ibiza’s biggest ever show production – a jaw-dropping combination of bespoke 3D holographic effects, original animation and a completely custom-built transparent LED sphere.

As Eric Prydz puts it:

“We’ve waited six years for this, not because we wanted to, but because we had to. The technology needed to catch up with our vision, as every single part of Holosphere 2.0 is bespoke and original. This is what we always dreamed of.”

Eric Prydz

For Prydz’s creative team, pushing boundaries is non-negotiable – but turning that vision into reality demanded rock-solid technology behind the scenes, which is exactly what HIVE delivered.

A long-standing creative partnership

The founders of HIVE have worked with Eric Prydz for over 14 years – a testament to mutual trust, technical innovation and a shared ambition to redefine what’s possible in live entertainment. From early concept design to final execution, HIVE’s role has been integral, providing the advanced media server technology needed to make Holosphere 2.0 a reality.

“This show is the result of years of collaboration and relentless innovation. We’ve worked alongside Eric’s team for well over a decade. For Holosphere 2.0, the bar was higher than ever – and it was an honour to be at the grand opening at [UNVRS] and witness the incredible creativity and technical excellence of the entire team.”

Mark Calvert, CEO at HIVE

Pushing the limits in immersive live shows

Holosphere 2.0 is a highly complex 3D pixel mapping project centred around a custom-designed transparent LED sphere by PRG Projects – widely regarded as one of the most technically ambitious touring setups ever created.

The show runs exclusively at [UNVRS], The Night League’s new ‘hyperclub’ in Ibiza. Every Monday, the venue transforms from an empty canvas into a sci-fi spectacle: the entire sphere and over 400 lighting fixtures and lasers are rigged from scratch in the morning, rehearsed by night and de-rigged the next morning – ready for the next show to roll in.

To meet this demanding schedule, every component had to be tour-grade: compact, robust, easy to set up and capable of delivering flawless, frame-accurate playback night after night.

Perfect sync for a one-of-a-kind spherical LED sphere

To handle these demands, HIVE supplied its flagship Beeblade Nexus media engines housed in dual Nucleus chassis. A total of four Nexus units were deployed – two live and two backup – delivering a compact, rugged touring system capable of playing flawless 4K60 video mapped onto a complex spherical LED sphere with sub-pixel precision. The entire setup stays perfectly in sync with timecoded content while live MIDI control gives the creative team real-time flexibility.

Dave Green, CTO at HIVE, explains:

“Delivering perfectly smooth 4K60 video onto a transparent spherically mapped LED sphere is a significant technical challenge. Each pixel had to be mapped with sub-pixel accuracy from an equirectangular source, all while staying locked to timecode and reacting to live MIDI inputs. This is exactly the kind of technical challenge we built Beeblade Nexus for – giving creators total confidence, no matter how complex the show.”

Dave Green, CTO at HIVE

Designed for rapid builds and de-rigs, Nexus combines robust hardware with intuitive software the crew knows inside out – guaranteeing frame-accurate sync and flawless performance throughout the run.

Liam Tomaszewski, Creative Director for Holosphere 2.0, says:

“This show has only recently become technically possible, and Beeblade Nexus played a huge part in making it happen. We’ve trusted the HIVE team for years because they deliver on the things that really matter for a project like this: absolute reliability, frame accuracy and an intuitive software environment our crew knows inside out.

Holosphere 2.0 pushes immersive live experience to the limit and HIVE’s technology gives us the freedom to create without compromise.”

Liam Tomaszewski, Creative Director for Holosphere 2.0

A new benchmark for live production

Every element of Holosphere 2.0 has been custom-built to deliver a uniquely immersive experience. The result is a feature-length performance blending multi-dimensional visuals, stunning light shows and precise holographic illusions – all perfectly synced by HIVE’s servers.

Romain Pissenem, founder of High Scream and show producer at [UNVRS], adds:

“The engineering behind the sphere is already a milestone, but what truly brings it to life is the power of the HIVE system. The combination of Liam [Tomaszewski]’s visionary content design and the Beeblade Nexus’s capabilities creates a show that feels alive in a way audiences have never seen before.”

An unforgettable residency

Running for 14 weeks until the closing night on 1st September, Holosphere 2.0 has set a new benchmark for Ibiza’s nightlife and for immersive touring shows globally. For HIVE, it’s another proof point of what happens when innovative hardware, smart software and bold creative ambition come together.

Mark Calvert concludes:

“Holosphere 2.0 proves what’s possible when technology empowers vision. It’s been a privilege for the HIVE team to stand alongside Eric, Michael, Liam, Mattie, Elliot, Pete and PRG Projects.”

HIVE takes flight with Arcadia’s Dragonfly at Glastonbury Festival

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1 July 2025

HIVE takes flight with Arcadia’s Dragonfly at Glastonbury Festival

A striking fusion of technology, art and engineering, powered by HIVE’s cutting-edge software and ultra-compact Beeblade Nexus media servers.

Glastonbury Festival 2025 played host to the spectacular return of one of Arcadia’s most iconic installations – the Dragonfly. Towering above crowds in the Arcadia field, the 30-metre-long sculpture is built around a repurposed military helicopter, transformed into a living, breathing audiovisual creature brought to life with projection, LED and lighting in perfect harmony.

This year marked HIVE’s first full deployment on the Dragonfly. The project – a collaboration between Arcadia, Cucumber Productions, Video Illusions and content creators Astral Projekt – pushed the boundaries of projection mapping and LED playback. At its core: HIVE’s new Beeblade Nexus media engines and supporting suite of advanced software tools, designed for projects where creativity meets complexity.

A Radically Challenging Canvas

The Dragonfly’s body – a decommissioned Sea King helicopter – presented a highly unusual projection surface. Irregular curves, protruding elements and a compact footprint made conventional video mapping techniques difficult. The addition of LED “eyes” and face illumination brought further creative demands, requiring tight synchronisation between projection, lighting and real-time visuals.

Replacing a previously rack-based system, HIVE delivered a lightweight, energy-efficient and more affordable alternative – deploying six Beeblade Nexus units housed in three ruggedised Nucleus enclosures. These were distributed across projection towers on either side of the structure and within the Dragonfly’s head.

“With HIVE, we were able to replace an energy-hungry server stack with compact players that delivered the same, if not more, capability – but using far less power and at around a fifth of the cost.”

Dave Green, HIVE CTO

This efficiency aligned perfectly with Arcadia’s sustainability ethos: the Dragonfly is powered entirely by renewable energy provided by Grid Faeries – making HIVE’s low-power architecture the perfect fit for a large-scale show leading the way in green festival production.

Each Nexus board supported dual 4K NDI inputs with alpha layers – enabling complex video layering and transparency effects. This was essential to manage the real-time feeds created in Unity and TouchDesigner by Astral Projekt, seamlessly blended with a pre-rendered, time-coded 10-minute show sequence dubbed the ‘Arcadia Dragonfly Show’.

Software that breaks new ground

What truly set this installation apart was HIVE’s software – particularly its Obj Map and advanced mapping tools. The team combined multiple techniques to handle the diverse demands of the design:

Obj Map Tool – mapped content onto the hexagonal LED “eyes” with spherical accuracy, importing UV-mapped geometry files created in Blender.
Warp Grid Tool – deployed for real-time warping and projection mapping onto the fuselage and tail.
Pixel Map Page – a new feature used to control Art-Net LED fixtures for the Dragonfly’s facial illumination.
Timecode Support – HIVE’s rock-solid timecode feature tied the Dragonfly’s 10-minute programmed sequence together, effortlessly playing back pre-rendered animation to the LED “eyes” and all projection surfaces.

HIVE’s advanced Obj Map tool mapped over 200 individual LED panels across the Dragonfly’s spherical “eyes”, enabling pixel-perfect alignment on a highly complex curved surface. This combination of tools – normally reserved for big-budget media systems – is now far more accessible thanks to HIVE’s streamlined, user-friendly platform.

Seamless integration, lasting impact

From day one, HIVE worked closely with Arcadia’s technical production team and long-time partners Cucumber Productions and Video Illusions to align the technology with Arcadia’s creative vision. The system handled both the pre-programmed show and real-time content flawlessly throughout the festival weekend – all powered by renewable energy from Grid Faeries and minimal kit.

Summing up the collaboration, Dave Green said:

“It was a real showcase of what HIVE can do – as a platform, as a product and as a team. I’m proud of the result and grateful to our partners for trusting us with such an ambitious piece. It’s still probably one of my favourite visual installations of all time. It just looks otherworldly – like something from an alien planet.”

Dave Green, HIVE CTO

Ben Vaughan added:

“I couldn’t have been happier with how things have gone. As well as making the eyes on the Dragonfly, I was lucky enough to fill the role of Head of Video on the Arcadia stage. This year, I specced HIVE media players and I couldn’t be happier with how things have gone – in no small part thanks to the team there. Huge respect to Mark Calvert, Dave Green and Nigel Sadler for making everything run so smoothly.”

Ben Vaughan, Director at Cucumber Productions

Cyrus Bozorgmehr added:

“It was great to have a rock-solid media server setup at FOH, running dual 4K NDI feeds with alpha, delivering content smoothly and consistently every night. The lightweight equipment meant it was installed quickly with a minimal footprint, avoiding the usual load-out and truck logistics you’d expect with traditional server stacks.

The HIVE system ran content seamlessly to our eight double-stacked projectors, keeping everything precisely mapped and aligned in a busy 360-degree environment. It also powered our custom transparent LED video screen – made of over 200 tessellating hexagon panels – which formed the head of the Dragonfly and the DJ booth. Dave Green and Nigel Sadler from HIVE were great to work with, and it was a pleasure to have them on board.”

Cyrus Bozorgmehr, Head of Creative Comms at Arcadia

Looking ahead, HIVE looks forward to collaborating on future editions of the Dragonfly and joining forces again in Glastonbury 2027.

* Header image – © Chris Cooper

HIVE Powers Tutankhamun: The Immersive Exhibition in London

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5 May 2025

HIVE Powers Tutankhamun: The Immersive Exhibition in London

An immersive 360-degree experience brought to life through precision engineering, cutting-edge technology and seamless collaboration.

Tutankhamun: The Immersive Exhibition opened at ExCeL London in March 2025, inviting visitors to step inside the story of the boy king in a spectacular reimagining of Ancient Egypt. Produced by FKP Scorpio Entertainment and created by Madrid Artes Digitales (MAD), the 26,000 square foot experience blends archaeology, storytelling and immersive technology to astonishing effect.

At the heart of the show is a towering 8-metre-high, 360-degree projection-mapped environment – an engineering feat designed to transport audiences to a richly detailed ancient world. This central immersive space, known as the “black box,” was designed and installed by Belgian multimedia specialists Painting with Light (PWL), with projection powered by Epson and media playback delivered by Hive’s high-performance Beeblade system.

From the outset, the project came with an ambitious timeline. PWL had just under four months to design, build, install and commission the black box for opening night – a full-scale immersive theatre powered by 44 Epson projectors and featuring spatial audio, projection mapping and flawless synchronisation. The venue presented its own challenges, including uneven flooring, changing ceiling heights and limited build time, requiring bespoke adaptation. With multiple international partners involved, the pressure was on to deliver a fully integrated solution that would not only wow audiences but also set a standard for future touring venues.

Hive’s Beeblade Pluto media servers, housed in three compact Beehive enclosures, served as the backbone of the experience. Known for their plug-and-play reliability, perfect synronicisation across multiple outputs using Beesync, easy to use software and scalable, low-power architecture, Hive’s systems were chosen for their ability to perform seamlessly day in, day out. The projection canvas covered more than 1,200 square metres, with content playing across massive ultra-wide resolutions and 30fps frame rates. The result was a seamless visual journey through ancient tombs, temples and landscapes – rendered in stunning clarity and synchronised to an immersive 3D audio environment.

Adding to the technical achievement was the speed and precision of the calibration process. VIOSO, known for their auto-alignment technology, calibrated all 44 projectors onsite in just two days. Their camera-based solution, newly integrated with Hive’s playback system, allowed for pixel-perfect warping and blending with the added benefit of one-touch recalibration should any projector shift over time. The success of this integration was particularly rewarding for the team, marking a new benchmark in efficient setup for large-scale immersive projects.

Despite the complexity of the installation, the system proved reliable under pressure. When a power outage struck during a live show, PWL’s technical team responded instantly – remotely diagnosing the issue and guiding on-site personnel to a solution within hours, ensuring the exhibition continued with minimal disruption.

The London run is the latest in a string of international showings for the exhibition, which has already captivated over 1.8 million visitors across twelve cities including Madrid and Cairo. But it’s also the first time the new, modular black box format has been deployed – designed specifically for ease of repeat use as the experience tours new markets.

Peter van Bilsen, strategic director at PWL, praised the collaboration:

Working with Hive on Tutankhamun: The Immersive Exhibition was a true example of how the right technology and teamwork can deliver exceptional results under pressure. Hive’s media server proved to be reliable and perfectly suited to the fast turnaround. We’re proud of the outcome and of the great collaboration that got us there.

Peter van Bilsen, strategic director

Running until 29 June 2025, the London edition of Tutankhamun: The Immersive Exhibition continues to attract audiences of all ages. With technology and storytelling working in harmony, it stands as a benchmark for what’s possible when the right partners come together – and a template for future immersive experiences to follow.

Working at London’s new immersive venue, ImmerseLDN, was a fantastic experience. This project brought together expert teams – from PWL’s seamless install to Epson’s projection, VIOSO’s calibration and MAD’s storytelling. We’re proud Hive technology helped power such a loved attraction. Huge thanks to PWL for their enthusiasm towards Hive – we’re excited for what’s next.

Mark Calvert, co founder @ HIVE

Odyssey: a voyage through light and time.

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15 December 2023

Odyssey: a voyage through light and time.

Odyssey is a transcendent journey through space, time, light and imagination, reflecting on our place in the universe. Imagined by Artists and production company Greenaway & Greenaway and technically delivered by Daniel Williams from LedsAkimbo. Hive’s compact Hive Media Engine delivered high-quality HD playback in an energy-efficient package.

Presented as an LED monolith structure, Odyssey is a bold and dynamic light-based installation that takes viewers on a journey through the cosmos. Standing alone in the darkness, the ambient sequence uses LED technology and the Hive Media Engines to bring the far reaches of the universe into urban and natural environments.

Hive Media Engines are the ideal solution for a project demanding high-performance that doesn’t cost the planet. Offering the brand’s signature web browser control, low power consumption and easy installation approach, Hive Media Engines are a reliable media playback solution that deliver unmatched performance.

Images courtesy of © Jude Greenaway

The Hive system deployed here worked brilliantly to support LedsAkimbo’s delivery of Greenaway & Greenaway’s work. We are very happy to support this installation and vision.
Mark Calvert, Hive founder

Frameless London wins AV Award

Posted on 22 November 202311 December 2024 by PatAdmin

Frameless London – a project that used media player solutions from Hive – took home the award for ‘Themed Entertainment and Attractions Project of the Year’ at the 2023 AV Awards, which was held at London’s Evolution back in November.

The media player giants were honoured alongside Creative Technology and Panasonic Connect Europe for their work on the phenomenal Frameless London project, which blended creative digitised art and cutting-edge technology.

Located at Marble Arch Place, Frameless merged digital adaptations of 40 pieces from significant creative forces, including Klimt, Monet, Rembrandt and Van Gogh. Guests were led through carefully curated rooms, which comprised themes spanning ‘Beyond Reality’, ‘Colour in Motion’, ‘The World Around Us’ and ‘The Art of Abstraction’.

The project used 19 Hive Media Engines all seamlessly synchronised and supported by 4K and 8K media players and augmented by 50 3-Chip DLP Panasonic laser projectors, which helped to deliver 479 million pixels and one million lumens.

“We’re really proud of this project and the AV Award win confirms its success. Hive strives to power one-of-a-kind, ambitious visuals and Framless London is a testament to that.”
Mark Calvert, Hive Founder

HIVE brings wonders of our planet to life

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9 November 2023

HIVE brings wonders of our planet to life

BeeBlade and BeeBox power immersive journey through the natural world with David Attenborough, at BBC Earth Experience Melbourne.

BBC Earth Experience is an immersive exhibition that promises to transport visitors on a journey through the natural world, narrated by none other than the legendary David Attenborough.

Following the popularity of the inaugural BBC Earth Experience in London, the attraction has recently opened a second site at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. HIVE’s BeeBlade and BeeBox products were chosen to bring this captivating experience to life through seamless media playback.

“We are introducing a new technological era into the industry with the BeeBlade series, and when TDC in Australia contacted HIVE for the BBC Earth Experience in Melbourne we could not have been any more excited,” recalls Mark Calvert, Co-Founder at HIVE. “The natural world, preserving it and the beautiful nature documentaries of David Attenborough have inspired the entire HIVE team for many years.”

Produced in collaboration with Moon Eye Productions, Live Nation and BBC Studios, the BBC Earth Experience consists of eight rooms of digital art that guide visitors through Earth’s diverse ecosystems across seven continents. Visitors embark on a 360-degree audio-visual adventure, taking them deep into the heart of our planet’s most spectacular landscapes. The experience is played out across dynamic multi-angle screens, showcasing both new and existing footage from the ‘Seven Worlds, One Planet’ series.

What sets Melbourne’s BBC Earth Experience apart is the playback technology used for this installation. Leading Australian video technology and production supplier, TDC, harnessed an innovative and cost-effective HIVE media server solution to power the project.

Launched earlier this year, BeeBlade is a compact media engine that seamlessly integrates with video projectors and display technology through Intel’s Smart Display Module (SDM) slot, thus eliminating the need for extensive cabling. The Melbourne exhibit is equipped with 70 Panasonic projectors, with 55 creating the main immersive space, 49 of which are powered by BeeBlade. The remaining six utilise HIVE’s BeeBox to achieve 4K clarity.

The BeeBlade and BeeBox don’t just represent technological advancements; they are harbingers of a new, greener, and more efficient era in digital art installations. This transformative approach is not just a disruption in the media server space; it’s an evolutionary leap, saving time, money and the planet.
Michael Hassett Managing Director, TDC.

Panasonic echoed these sentiments on savings, as Tony Molloy, European Sales Manager at Panasonic Business Europe confirms: “In applications such as this, having a system where you can combine the projectors and media servers together in the same location saves costs from an installation perspective.”

Indeed, both BeeBlade and BeeBox represent a shift in the media server market and contribute to a greener, more eco-conscious future in digital art installations. Furthermore, the content is delivered using HIVE’s proprietary BeeSync software, ensuring perfect synchronisation of all imagery.

“The BBC Earth Experience is the perfect playground for our range of BeeBlade products,” concludes Calvert. “They align with the environmental narrative, they meet strict guidelines from the BBC to cut CO2 emissions, and most importantly they provide rock solid reliable playback to the production team, day in, day out. Our team are all immensely proud of the BBC Earth Experience, and I am eternally grateful for their ongoing support and dedication to our brighter vision to revolutionise video playback for the industry we love.”

FRAMELESS

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16 May 2023

FRAMELESS

Situated in the new Marble Arch Place Complex Venue, Frameless London blends digitalised art, phenomenal creative vision, and cutting-edge entertainment technology to present a cultural attraction like no other. Digital interpretations of 40 masterpieces from 28 artists including Klimt, Monet, Rembrandt and van Gogh lead visitors through the carefully curated spaces; Beyond Reality, Colour in Motion, The World Around Us and the Art of Abstraction.

The project sits at the intersection of the worlds of tech, art, architecture, and experiential events, showcasing iconic works of art as they’ve never been seen before – via immersive, state-of-the-art video projection.

The solution relies on a total of 19 Player_3 HIVE systems – all perfectly synchronized and supported by 4K and 8K Media players and augmented by 50 3-Chip DLP of Panasonic laser projectors, which helped to deliver 479 million pixels and one million lumens.

Utilizing the latest embedded GPUs developed by NVIDIA, HIVE was able to offer Frameless outstanding performance in a small package at an enviable price point, with no compromise on quality. Simon Kentish, Frameless CTO, says: “HIVE’s value for money is amazing in terms of its delivery, its form factor, and its integration with products like Screenberry. It’s right for us, and we’ll be using it moving forward.”

Green reflects on Frameless’ hugely successful reception: “It’s not until the venue opens, and you see the public immersed in the experience, that you really understand what was being created. HIVE is so proud to have worked alongside such experts on a project assembled by a world-class team; the results speak for themselves.”

With special thanks to: Frameless, Creative Technology, Five Currents, Luke Halls Studio & Panasonic-Connect

It wasn’t just understanding the final playback, which is ultimately the result of all this hard work, but the relationship that CT built with HIVE was essential for success; we understood at every stage what the technical challenges were going to be.
Graham Bunyan, Head of Integration, CT UK

Dubai World Expo

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14 May 2023

Dubai World Expo

Steven Harvey from LM Productions contacted Mark Calvert to discuss the impossible! Qatar had been invited to participate in the World Expo, but with only a few months to secure the fit-out contracts and installation work – he asked if HIVE could help.

Of course, HIVE accepted the challenge. Steven knew we were developing the P4 system, and he already trusted us from previous successful projects, so was more than happy for the P4 to make its debut on the world stage.

Our experience of overseeing complex video installation was put to the test on this installation; helping the content team manage the media onsite, working tirelessly to complete the mapping and system integration, and even dealing with Dave Green contracting COVID-19 a few days before he was due to fly to Dubai for the install.

The team is grateful to Steve and Paul for welcoming us into their family and enabling us to prove the power and versatility of the HIVE systems at such a prestigious event! Also, thanks as always to Pesh for including us on this endeavour.

With special thanks to: LM Productions

With special thanks to: Frameless, Creative Technology, Five Currents, Luke Halls Studio & Panasonic-Connect

We came to the HIVE with a complex project, and we were surprised and delighted how the team (at short notice) were able to look at the project and come up with a HIVE solution, the product is very flexible and the GUI is very user-friendly.
Stephen Harvey, LM Productions Ltd (Dubai World Expo)

Quayola

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11 May 2023

Quayola

Re-Coding: A digital re-imagination of art history powered by HIVE.

HIVE it’s certainly the most clever and efficient solution for high-quality video playback and synchronisation that I have ever come across.My solo show in Rome just finished and all 15 HIVE players worked like clockwork everyday for 6 months. Not one problem!
Quayola, Visual Artist

Liverpool World Museum Aquarium

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10 May 2023

Liverpool World Museum Aquarium

HIVE and RES were hired by Liverpool Museum to help with the refurbishment of the Aquarium project. While Hive Media Control founders are inspired by the natural world and environment, they understand that keeping animals in captivity is a sensitive issue.

After discussing the Museum’s focus on educating visitors about the planet’s resources, global warming, and humanity’s relationship with the ocean, HIVE decided to participate and even sponsored a film about the environment in hopes of inspiring children to care more for the planet.

After completion of the project, Mannika Dhadwal, Digital Content Lead said “The process from start to finish has been exactly what you would want and need – imaginative, flexible and collaborative. They’ve worked within our budget and have produced world-class animated content that has really amplified the exhibition experience. We’re looking forward to working with them on future projects and couldn’t recommend them highly enough.”

Special thanks to: Liverpool Museum, Mike Bedford & Pesh

HIVE is the most talented and creative company we’ve had the pleasure to work with. Their enthusiasm, ingenuity and energy is infectious, and their advice and technical skills have been invaluable in the refurbishment of the Aquarium. The process from start to finish has been exactly what you would want and need!
Mannika Dhadwal, Digital Content Lead, Liverpool World Museum