Extended Reality for Drama and Performance

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Extended Reality (XR) is poised to revolutionize performance. By combing research in human computer interaction (HCI), human robot interaction (HRI) and performance practice, artists, producers, and audiences have vast opportunities for new models of creation, production, and engagement. Due to the emergence of affordable and easy to use XR tools, and the change in the perception of technology-augmented performance in the artistic community as the result of COVID-19, the domain where this work occurs is ready for disruption. Performance is a global industry with a shared production model. The path of: creation, rehearsal, production, and touring is common to every country. So too are two challenges: workspace and geographical barriers to collaboration. Our program provides solutions to both and does so earlier in the production schedule. We consider interaction, the core of HCI/HRI, as the site of our intervention. Our program's methodology is founded on the design of user interactions allowing members of the production team to work together earlier in the schedule increasing performance quality and reducing cost. Our mission is to use these offerings to help drive a new kind of work that sees XR as a primary site for the creation of new work. Our research has three sub-projects designed to achieve these goals: (1) XR and Individual Performance. We will prototype, design, and implement a set of tools that allow performers to begin collective creation before arriving at the studio. Interfaces share production elements with performers, who can begin creative work at home. (2) XR and Group Performance. Professional performers rely on elite, project-specific guidance. By allowing producers to engage with performers before arriving on site, we can provide performance professionals with more of their most valuable feedback and allow producers more time with their teams prior to expensive, in-person work. Early work suggests this interaction also offers a new kind of intimacy not available in studio. (3) XR, Performance and Audiences. We will integrate and evaluate our interactive tools and techniques in mock and actual productions, developing demonstration application systems, toolkits, and theoretical frameworks for interaction between producers, artists, and audiences. The program's three subprojects will provide novel interface prototypes, interaction techniques, testbeds, studies, and findings. We will use these in conjunction with HCI Interaction Design methods to form new toolkits, models, and frameworks for understanding interaction between performers, producers, and audiences. The tools, prototypes and theories developed will help researchers, industry, and policymakers with practical technologies supporting interaction in performance. Long term impact will be a new approach to creating work for mixed reality production. Work in this area is timely, and provides unique opportunities for HQPs to work in a rapidly expanding domain.