Interconnected virtual space and Theater. Practice as research on theater stage in the era of the network

TL;DR

This paper explores the integration of virtual avatars and physical actors in theater through multidisciplinary experiments, enhancing collaborative performance and scenography using real-time motion capture and digital technology.

Contribution

It introduces a novel multidisciplinary approach combining theater and virtual reality, with experimental systems linking physical actors and avatars to transform stage collaboration.

Findings

Enhanced actor-avatar interaction through low-cost motion capture

Modified scenographic design for virtual-physical integration

Real-time algorithms enable dynamic avatar control

Abstract

Since 2014, we have been conducting experiments based on a multidisciplinary collaboration between specialists in theatrical staging and researchers in virtual reality, digital art, and video games. This team focused its work on the similarities and differencesthat exist between real physical actors (actor-performers) and virtual digital actors (avatars). From this multidisciplinary approach, experimental research-creation projects have emerged and rely on a physical actor playing with the image of an avatar, controlled by another physical actor via the intermediary of a low-cost motion-capture system. In the first part of the paper, we will introduce the scenographic design on which our presentation is based, and the modifications we have made in relation to our previous work. Next, in the second section, we will discuss in detail the impact of augmenting the player's game using an avatar, compared to the scenic limitations of the theatrical stage. In part three of the paper, we will discuss the software-related aspects of the project, focusing on exchanges between the different components of our design and describing the algorithms enabling us to utilize the real-time movement of a player via various capture devices. To conclude, we will examine in detail how our experimental system linking physical actors and avatars profoundly alters the nature of collaboration between directors, actors, and digital artists in terms of actor/avatar direction.