RNID and GN publish an Auracast playbook for theatres, with a map of the UK houses already live

RNID, the UK's deaf and hard-of-hearing charity, and GN, the hearing-aid maker behind ReSound and Jabra, published Auracast for Theatres on 14 October. It is a step-by-step guide for a theatre that wants to add broadcast audio: what to buy, where to put it, how to sign it, what to tell front-of-house staff, and how to run the loan receivers.

Alongside it, RNID published a Google Maps layer of UK theatres with Auracast live. The current list: the Dorfman at the National Theatre, all eight Delfont Mackintosh houses in the West End, the Almeida, Liverpool's Everyman and Playhouse, and Contact in Manchester.

Why a playbook matters

Until now a venue manager who asked "how do we do this?" got a transmitter datasheet from one vendor and a hearing-aid brochure from another. The playbook is written for the person who has to brief the AV contractor and the box office in the same week. It covers:

• Transmitter placement and the two-stream layout (programme plus audio description)
• Signage with the QR code in the right places, including the bar
• The loan receiver fleet, neckloops and the charging dock
• Staff scripts for the question "I have hearing aids, what do I do?"
• Keeping the induction loop at counters while Auracast covers the seats

GN's involvement is not neutral; it sells the aids. But the guide is written around any qualified transmitter, and the venues on the map mostly run Auri, which is not a GN product.

The Australian angle

Australia has more Auracast theatres per head than anywhere outside the UK: Sydney Opera House's seven venues, City Recital Hall, ICC Sydney and QPAC. None of them is on the Bluetooth SIG's own venue list, and there is no Australian equivalent of RNID's map. Our directory is the closest thing. If you run a venue with a broadcast, get it listed.

The playbook is free from RNID's site.