The days of faceless radio will soon be over as Nokia and Virgin have teamed up to produce ‘visual radio’. The technology developed by Nokia and Hewlett Packard will allow Virgin Radio to send images relating to their playlist to mobile phones. The listeners will be able to interact with the station by voting for songs, playing games and buying ringtones and tracks on the “visual interface.”
James Cridland of Virgin Radio told the Financial Times, “Radio is a great medium for emotion and immediacy. But if you can make it more permanent - keeping a telephone number on a mobile screen for example - it can be much more powerful.” The technology is due to be first tested in late March by KISS FM in Finland. The service will be launched by Virgin in the UK in the spring and provide 24/7 interactivity.