Project: Hybrid-real stage spaces
This project looks at how real and virtual spaces can work together in performances, with a focus on how audiences engage with musicians or performers. Through the creation of the VR performance „Spatial Encounters,“ they are exploring how blending physical and digital spaces can be a powerful tool for designing unique and immersive experiences. Additionally, their goal is to understand how artists collaborate in performances, specifically in the realm of musical experiences.
This special space combines real and digital elements to explore conversations between music, people, and surroundings, breaking away from traditional concerts. Participants can immerse themselves in the music without having a traditional front-facing setup. It aims to create new interactive dialogues between sound and visuals, inviting participants to focus on a unique way of listening.
Various virtual landscapes generated with VFX form the basic setup. Musicians and up to nine participants can interact simultaneously in this space. Visitors interact with their own avatars or others, influencing the virtual space. At the same time, the musical composition by the artists affects the virtual space, creating a mutual interplay between musicians and participants that constantly evolves.
The main focus of the project was on the questions:
- How do users behave alone or in a community in different contexts, media, and formats?
- How much influence do we allow users, and how much interaction is possible and necessary?
- How can we transform passive viewers into active creators?
Special attention was given to ensuring a successful performance by emphasising spatial safety. Overlaps must exist in both virtual and real spaces, clearly indicating that one can move safely in the real space.
Project: Augmented reality as a communication tool
The project aims to address communication challenges in theater refurbishments and cultural venues by leveraging XR (extended reality) technologies. Traditional tools like drawings and models have limitations in conveying the complexities of spatial situations in theaters. Collaborating with experts, the project explores scenarios for renovation planning and discussions on stage productions, aiming to answer questions about presenting architectural transformations, integrating augmented reality into physical scale models and drawings, and digitally supporting planning processes using XR technology for seamless communication among stakeholders.
Basis:
Complex construction projects, including new builds and renovations of theaters and cultural venues, pose significant communication challenges. Traditional tools in architectural visualization, such as 3D views and animations, often fall short in conveying the overall spatial context. While physical models aid spatial understanding, they may lack flexibility. The need for interactivity and flexibility highlights the demand for improved communication methods.
Key Questions:
To what extent can digital technologies like Augmented Reality support communication by adding digital layers to built-scale models, drawings, and physical spaces, presenting complex architectural transformation processes comprehensibly?
Task:
In the refurbishment of the Luisenburg Festival’s natural stage, digital tools were employed to enhance the communication of the complex system structure of cavities, corridors, and stairs in the planning process. The goal was to involve all stakeholders in the decision-making process and convey the highly complex planning process in an understandable way for prompt decision-making.
Implementation:
The AR application was developed using terrestrial laser scans, drone-based photogrammetry, and CAD planning. Users can present three-dimensional content on a floor plan or physical model using a tablet, smartphone, or AR glasses. Physical objects serve as anchor points for digital content prepared in advance. Aspects such as object positioning, scaling, and user interface were considered.
Technical Tools:
WebXR Editor and Viewer
Advantages:
- Cost savings
- Improved planning capabilities
- Location and time-independent planning
- Consistent presentation regardless of weather conditions and changes in natural conditions due to snow
- AR as an effective presentation tool for tables, models, or sketches to enhance communication
Opportunities for Digital Tools:
- Workshop drawings and planning sketches are 2D, but a 3D blueprint is not necessarily required
- 3D provides advantages in lighting and simulating the sun’s position without waiting for the corresponding time of day
- Need for professional exchange between festival locations and various stakeholders at the national and international levels.
Ressources
DTHG: Abschluss-Publikation des Forschungsprojektes „Im/material Theatre Spaces“
