Kings Place and Ristband Present Immersive Experiences for ‘Memory Unwrapped’

This January, Kings Place presents a three‑day immersive event with award‑winning creative studio Ristband, combining live music, VR performance, and a machine‑learning installation to explore how we inhabit and remember the world around us.

As part of ‘Memory Unwrapped‘, running 15-17 January 2026, audiences can step into a mixed‑reality VR experience with live music and responsive visuals, while a companion machine‑vision installation observes the room and names what it sees, creating a living feedback loop between bodies, systems, and memory. Together, these works explore how systems remember us, how we remember ourselves, and how algorithmic processes shape our sense of “now” and “here.”

Anne McKinnon, Director of Ristband, said: “These works are intended as a comment on our relationship to machine learning technology and virtual worlds. From facial‑recognition systems in public spaces to the algorithmic shaping of memory itself, they explore how we are seen and how we remember- to provoke curiosity about the world we’re building together.”

Ristband’s immersive experiences at Kings Place include:

ALTERED– Live mixed-reality performance

ALTERED is a unique live music performance in which the audience, wearing VR headsets, journeys through interactive virtual landscapes, shifting between the physical concert and fully digital worlds. Created especially for ‘Memory Unwrapped’ at Kings Place, the work explores how our perception of place evolves across generations as memories form, fade, and are reshaped by technologies such as AI and social media.

Blending cinematic storytelling, live music, interactive gaming, and virtual reality, ALTERED transcends linear time, guiding audiences through memories that are both real and surreal while challenging perceptions of reality in an era of rapid social and technological transformation.

The show is performed by Venice Bleach, a transmedia electronic artist known for immersive concerts and audiovisual shows worldwide, featuring Alexander Parsons on violin, an artist and composer whose work spans film, television, and experimental performance.

MACHINE MEMORY– Interactive installation

MACHINE MEMORY is an interactive installation using machine vision, shaped in real time by the physical movement and actions of audiences within Kings Place. The work reveals the mind behind the machine, exposing how computers “see” the world, recognising objects, tracking movement, and retaining information over time.

The installation interrogates the question of digital memory and influence: what kind of world are we building through technology, and how does machine perception shape collective memory? MACHINE MEMORY explores anthropomorphism in software, AI-driven surveillance, data, and machine error, breaking down the binaries of human versus machine and examining how digital interactions can shape the way we perceive the world around us.

The installation was created by Ristband in collaboration with Venice Bleach and interactive media artist and programmer Chris McKinnon, marking his first international showcase.

Sam McShane, Artistic Director of Kings Place, said: “Music and memory are closely intertwined, offering a powerful way to reflect on the past and inspire the future. In our year of Memory Unwrapped, we honour the artists and repertoire that have shaped the story of Kings Place Music Foundation, while also introducing new works that spark fresh connections. We are grateful to the artists bringing this vision to life and look forward to sharing performances that illuminate the past while pointing towards what lies ahead.”

The release of new plans for expanded facial‑recognition use by UK police, including proposals for more regular deployments across England and Wales and broader access to biometric databases, has sparked public debate about privacy, public safety, and the impact of machine learning in everyday life.

Rather than offering a dystopian cautionary tale, the immersive experiences and installation at Kings Place invite audiences to feel the active presence of these technologies, how they record, map, and reinterpret the world around us, and to reflect on questions of surveillance, safety, and shared experience in the digital age.

Following Ristband’s international run in cities including Paris, Yokohama, Austin, and Barcelona, this London debut positions memory and machine learning not as abstractions but as lived, perceptual experiences.

Technology & Partners

The programme features world-class spatial audio via d&b audiotechnik’s Soundscape system, as well as virtual reality headsets from PICO XR.

The d&b Soundscape creates a fully immersive auditory environment. Combining object-based mixing with advanced acoustic processing, Soundscape enables unparalleled spatial audio reproduction, placing every sound precisely in three-dimensional space.

Wayne Powell, Head of Artist Relations at d&b audiotechnik, said: “Artists are looking for new ‘frames’ for their music and performances. This experience with Venice Bleach and the Ristband team is a perfect example of Mixed Reality and live music cohabiting in the same space for the audience, and the use of Spatial Audio is a great way to glue these two very different realities together.”

PICO XR develops advanced VR and mixed-reality hardware and software for professional immersive experiences. Together, these technologies offer a glimpse into the future of music and live events through state-of-the-art innovation.

Memory Unwrapped (Opening Weekend) Tickets can be purchased on the Kings Place website:

Thursday January 15– Start time: 7 pm (Doors: 6.30 pm)
Friday January 16, shows starting at 5 pm, 5.20 pm, 5.40 pm
Saturday January 17 shows starting at 5 pm, 5.20 pm, 5.40 pm