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Home > About > News > Learn how Alberta is innovating in arts & entertainment
November 24, 2023
Alberta Innovates supports and highlights innovation across Alberta. Here are some of our favourite stories of arts & entertainment innovation from the last few years.
Neil Gruninger and Mike Lowe co-founded Kidoodle in 2012, with streaming-based entertainment tailored towards kids. Lowe saw how his children were fond of being able to touch a screen and press play, but worried about the hazards that existing streaming services like YouTube posed for young children who could easily stumble upon inappropriate content. There are now 27,000 carefully selected episodes of popular kids shows available on Kidoodle, making it the largest direct kids’ content library outside of YouTube. Parents can trust that all the content their kids are viewing has been vetted and is age appropriate. They can tailor account settings to decide which shows their kids can access. A report of viewing habits also helps parents stay informed. In addition, although their free model is ad-supported, all ads go through the same rigorous vetting process as regular content with a family focus in mind.
In 2020, Kidoodle experienced rapid growth, with the total number of users increasing by over 3,000 percent over a 12-month period. Their team also grew from 20 employees to 76.
Visit www.kidoodle.tv
One of the biggest challenges for a sound engineer at an outdoor event is to focus the sound at attendees and not into surrounding areas. PK Sound’s patented sound system, called Trinity, can re-shape a sound field in real time to overcome these acoustical challenges without slowing down the production set-up. Relatively easy to deploy, the system uses software that can control and move robotics located inside large loudspeaker line arrays – even after they are hung or “flown.” This manoeuvrability allows engineers to precisely aim sound so that noise complaints are minimized, and the concert experience is maximized. PK Sound’s many high-profile deployments include major festivals, like the Electric Daisy Carnival in Mexico City, and Broadway musicals, like Hamilton.
PK Sound CEO and Chief Engineer Jeremy Bridge is a former DJ who also holds a chemical engineering degree from the University of Calgary.
Visit www.pksound.live