Drama and Context in Real-Time Virtual Environments: Use of Pre-Scripted Events as a Part of an Interactive Spatial Mediation Framework
Cite as: Nitsche, Michael, Stanislav Roudavski, Maureen Thomas and François Penz (2003). 'Drama and Context in Real-Time Virtual Environments: Use of Pre-Scripted Events as a Part of an Interactive Spatial Mediation Framework', in Proceedings of 1st International Conference on Technologies for Interactive Digital Storytelling and Entertainment, ed. by Stefan Göbel et al. (Darmstadt: Fraunhofer IRB Verlag), pp. 296-310
We suggest that the dramatically engaging mediation of an experience of place should be built in as a fundamental... more We suggest that the dramatically engaging mediation of an experience of place should be built in as a fundamental capability of a compelling and meaningful virtual environment (VE). Our main objective is to develop flexible interactive techniques that supply VE’s with a coherent context and make the resulting ‘virtual place’ available to the user in a dramatically engaging way. To support the concept of narrative expressive space, we propose a three-layer multi-purpose spatial mediation framework that utilizes an interactive narrative structure to coordinate stylized dramatic camera work, lighting, effects and sound. We then describe the use of pre-scripted events as a layer in this framework and explain the inherent benefits and problems, using a single-user prototype environment as illustration. The work offers guidelines for the design of VE’s to all fields that combine narrativity and spatiality, such as interactive entertainment, education and architecture.
Building Cuthbert Hall Virtual College As a Dramatically Engaging Environment
Cite as: Nitsche, Michael, Stanislav Roudavski, Maureen Thomas and François Penz (2002). 'Building Cuthbert Hall Virtual College As a Dramatically Engaging Environment', in Proceedings of the Participatory Design Conference 2002, ed. by Thomas Binder, Judith Gregory and Ina Wagner (Palo Alto: CPSR), pp. 386-390
This paper outlines the interdisciplinary nature, collaborative work patterns and role of aesthetics in the Cuthbert... more
This paper outlines the interdisciplinary nature, collaborative work patterns and role of aesthetics in the Cuthbert Hall Virtual College research project at the Cambridge University Moving Image Studio (CUMIS) and the Centre for Applied Research in Education Technology (CARET). The project identifies key properties of dramatically engaging real-time three-dimensional virtual environments (RT 3D VE) and how the holistic experiential phenomenon of place is organised and mediated through spatial narrative patterns. Interdisciplinary by nature, the project requires a collaborative approach between science, engineering, media and architecture, and the results are revealing for all these areas. The Cuthbert Hall project invites discussion of the importance in the creation and use of RT 3D VE’s - under single and multi-user conditions - of articulate aesthetics (the quality of architectural, visual and audio design; the production and incorporation of dramatic properties) and of the conditions required for collaborative, communicative use of the environment.
The full theoretical and technical discussions as well as the evaluation results are outside the scope of this submission.
Experimental Media Horizons - Syncretic and Subversive Practices
Virtual Presentation: ICERI 2009
This paper formed part of the foundation for my book, Hybrid Forms and Syncretic Horizons (2011), available on Amazon... more
This paper formed part of the foundation for my book, Hybrid Forms and Syncretic Horizons (2011), available on Amazon at [http://badmindtime.nfshost.com/amazon2].
Performative media--including video jamming, live and networked media collaboration, and mobile-device based performance--is reaching a critical mass in digital culture. In Experimental Media Horizons, we will examine a number of outlying practices where the materials of digital culture are beginning to coalesce, and place current activity into a broader historical and aesthetic context. Included is an overview of tech requirements and performance suggestions for developing your own course.
79 views
Seen by: and 11 moreUn Interstice Impalpable (French version, English and Portuguese translation)).
Published in Scenes d'architecture. Nouvelles architectures françaises pour le spectacle, Paris, Editions du patrimoine, Culturesfrance/Centre des monuments nationaux, Paris, 2006, pp. 18-23
Published for the exhibition representing France at the 7th international Biennal of Architecture in São Paulo
I'm trying to understand how the performing space is changing since the arrival of digital technologies I'm trying to understand how the performing space is changing since the arrival of digital technologies
Theatre and Globalization
This paper is published in Ebonyi Review Vol 1 No 1, January, 2012: Ebony State University & Writers Circle.
The link between theatre and globalization is both a marriage of convenience and inconvenience. While the... more The link between theatre and globalization is both a marriage of convenience and inconvenience. While the "global" theatre benefits more from this new partnership, there are fears that the "local" theatre is already submerged in this union. What strategy should theatre practitioners in Africa adopt to survive in this new environment of "digital spaces" and "play stations"?
The IbnSina Center: An augmented reality theater with intelligent robotic and virtual characters
Co-authored with: N. Mavridis, D. Hanson., published in Proccedings of IEEE "Robot and Human Interactive Communication, 2009. RO-MAN 2009. The 18th IEEE International Symposium on", http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?arnumber=5326148
Although numerous early attempts towards the use of robotics in conjunction with virtual characters in order to create... more Although numerous early attempts towards the use of robotics in conjunction with virtual characters in order to create augmented reality theater and interactive performances have taken place, the state of the art is still in an initial stage on the pathway towards the full exploitation of the technological as well as creative and artistic potentialities that exist. Here we will present the IbnSina Center, a novel augmented reality interactive theatre installation, named after the famous polymath of the 10th century, known as Avicenna in the West. The installation consists of a ten-meter stage, multiple stage sensors, a screen, a pseudo-3D holograph transparency, and a seating area for the audience. The stage is populated by a custom-designed humanlike humanoid robot (the ldquoIbnSinardquo robot) and by humans and other entities. The screen and the holograph can display static and moving images, virtual environments as well as online virtual worlds populated by characters, or a windowed / blended mix of the above. The robotic and virtual characters can be autonomous, partially-autonomous, puppetteered, scripted, or real-time-controlled by imitation of human body movements (embodied telepresence). Furthermore, multiple modes of participation of distant humans can be supported: not only through videoconference, but also through control of robots and/or virtual characters. The IbnSina center serves as a platform for multiple purposes: artistic, research as well as educational; and most importantly, the centrality of a progressive character such as IbnSina catalyzes the reconnection of the wider region of the UAE to a past during which scientific inquiry and the arts had flourished; and thus, enables the creation of a future for the region which will emphasize such cultural values.
32 views
Seen by:The IbnSina interactive theater: Where humans, robots and virtual characters meet
Co-authored with: Mavridis, N. and Hanson, D., published in Proceedings of the IEEE "Robot and Human Interactive Communication, 2009. RO-MAN 2009. The 18th IEEE International Symposium on", http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?arnumber=5326144
Although numerous early attempts towards the use of robotics in conjunction with virtual characters in order to create... more Although numerous early attempts towards the use of robotics in conjunction with virtual characters in order to create augmented reality theater and interactive performances have taken place, the state of the art is still in an initial stage on the pathway towards the full exploitation of the technological as well as creative and artistic potentialities that exist. Here we will present the IbnSina center, a novel augmented reality interactive theatre installation, named after the famous polymath of the 10th century, known as Avicenna in the west. The installation consists of a ten-meter stage, multiple stage sensors, a screen, a pseudo-3D holograph transparency, and a seating area for the audience. The stage is populated by a custom-designed humanlike humanoid robot (the ldquoIbnSinardquo robot) and by humans and other entities. The screen and the holograph can display static and moving images, virtual environments as well as online virtual worlds populated by characters, or a windowed/blended mix of the above. The robotic and virtual characters can be autonomous, partially-autonomous, puppetteered, scripted, or real-time-controlled by imitation of human body movements (embodied telepresence). Furthermore, multiple modes of participation of distant humans can be supported: not only through videoconference, but also through control of robots and/or virtual characters. The IbnSina center serves as a platform for multiple purposes: artistic, research as well as educational; and most importantly, the centrality of a progressive character such as IbnSina catalyzes the reconnection of the wider region of the UAE to a past during which scientific inquiry and the arts had flourished; and thus, enables the creation of a future for the region which will emphasize such cultural values.
34 views
Seen by:Disembodied Performance: Abstraction of Representation in Live Theater
by Peter Torpey
Torpey, Peter A. Disembodied Performance: Abstraction of Representation in Live Theater. S.M. Thesis: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Media Arts and Sciences, 2009.
Early in Tod Machover’s opera Death and the Powers, the main character, Simon Powers, is subsumed into a technological... more
Early in Tod Machover’s opera Death and the Powers, the main character, Simon Powers, is subsumed into a technological environment of his own creation. The theatrical set comes alive in the form of robotic, visual, and sonic elements that allow the actor to extend his range and influence across the stage in unique and dynamic ways. The environment must compellingly assume the behavior and expression of the absent Simon.
This thesis presents a new approach called Disembodied Performance that adapts ideas from affective psychology, cognitive science, and the theatrical tradition to create a framework for thinking about the translation of stage presence. An implementation of a system informed by this methodology is demonstrated. In order to distill the essence of this character, we recover performance parameters in real-time from physiological sensors, voice, and vision systems. This system allows the offstage actor to express emotion and interact with others onstage. The Disembodied Performance approach takes a new direction in augmented performance by employing a nonrepresentational abstraction of a human presence that fully translates a character into an environment. The technique and theory presented also have broad-reaching applications outside of theater for personal expression, telepresence, and storytelling.
Happiness as a Subversive Activity: An Interview with Ivan Szendro on Commedia Dell'Arte as Healing & Resistance in Communist Hungary
This is a recent interview conducted on the theme of "polis as Muse" for an academic journal.
This interview with Hungarian actor and shaman Ivan Szendro examines the role of folk theatre performance art in the... more
This interview with Hungarian actor and shaman Ivan Szendro examines the role of folk theatre performance art in the tradition of commedia dell'arte as a vital form of creative self-healing and political resistance in Hungary during the Soviet Occupation.
Integrating Text Sound And Vision in an Interactive Audio Visual Work.
by Roger Alsop
Presented at the International Conference on Music Communication Science Sydney 2007
This paper describes the integration of text, sound and vision in the development of an interactive... more
This paper describes the integration of text, sound and vision in the development of an interactive audio-visual-textual work titled 'Yelling at Stars'. It explores points of intersection between text, vision and sound and possible ways in which the performer and viewer can draw relationships between physical, visual and sonic gestures, developing links between each of those elements and seeing each as having equal prominence in the work.
The paper then outlines the algorithmic processes used in developing the work, in particular the considerations made when developing the web of interdependent links between text, vision and sound.
Compositional Processes In Developing Poly-Media Performance Works
by Roger Alsop
Presented at:
Australasian Computer Music Conference
Perth 2003
In the performance arts it is now almost de rigueur for arts makers to include many media in what was once a single,... more
In the performance arts it is now almost de rigueur for arts makers to include many media in what was once a single, or at most dual media work; this is in part due to computing power being more available and software interfaces becoming more transparent and standardized. For the arts maker it is now possible to develop works in a media outside their training. This is especially so in computer based music, where a choreographer, actor or fine artist, for example, has access to equipment that allows them to create fully realized musical works.
The product of this process is often of varying quality; the most successful works offer a developmental process and consequent result that expands the musical oeuvre. One reason for this success is that the musical works are often created as an adjunct to a work primarily expressed through another medium. Another reason is that the compositional processes used are that of another medium and there is rarely a more than intuitive understanding of typical music composition practices.
This paper discusses aspects of poly-media art making and the possible reasons for the development of successful works. It then explores the processes used in collaboratively developing the works of three choreographers and computer-based composers and the resulting music
8 views
Seen by:Mourning and Healing through the Media - Participatory productions in post-conflict settings
paper presented at Panic and Mourning - Graduate Conference in Culture
Studies, 28th – 29th October 2010, Portuguese Catholic University, Lisbon, Portugal
Ravaged by destruction and violence, at the end of a conflict individuals are left alone to deal with their losses and... more
Ravaged by destruction and violence, at the end of a conflict individuals are left alone to deal with their losses and re-build their lives. Resentment for the events that have occurred and hostility toward those who are believed to have caused them are strong. Silence prevails as there is no one to talk to.
The trauma caused by intense violence and deprivation on individuals and their communities is severe. Participatory media can offer a platform to share this traumatic experience. By either consulting or directly involving people in the production activity, individuals are given the opportunity to tell their stories and express their feelings. At the same time, those who are exposed to this type of productions can gain understanding and strength from others’ experiences. This process leads to the creation of a mediatic representation of mourning and enables individuals to begin healing.
The qualitative research method involves a multiple-case study enquiry examining five participatory media projects carried out in Sierra Leone in the aftermath of the civil war. The projects taken into exam include community radio, participatory theatre, participatory film-making, radio drama and oral testimony. Through the analysis of secondary data supplied by the organisations involved, including insights from the project workers, the findings offered by the case studies show how – in post-conflict settings - the participation of local community members in media productions facilitates specific activities that help to initiate the process of mourning and healing from the trauma caused by the war.

