Evaluating Audience Engagement of an Immersive Performance on a Virtual Stage

Presenting theatrical performances in virtual reality (VR) has been an active area of research since the early 2000\u27s. VR provides a unique form of storytelling, which is made possible through the use of physically and digitally distributed 3D worlds. We describe a methodology for determining audience engagement in a virtual theatre performance. We use a combination of galvanic skin response (GSR) data, self-reported positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS), post-viewing reflection, and a think aloud method to assess user reaction to the virtual reality experience. In this study, we combine the implicit physiological data from GSR with explicit user feedback to produce a holistic metric for assessing immersion. Although the study evaluated a particular artistic work, the methodology of the study provides a foundation for conducting similar research. The combination of PANAS, self reflection, and the think aloud in conjunction with GSR data constitutes a novel approach in the study of live performance in virtual reality. The approach is also extendable to include other implicit measures such as pulse rate, blood pressure, or eye tracking. Our case study compares the experience of viewing the performance on a computer monitor to viewing with a head mounted display. Results showed statistically significant differences based on viewing platform in the PANAS self-report metric, as well as GSR measurements. Feedback obtained via the think aloud and reflection analysis also emphasized qualitative differences between the two viewing scenarios

Full Body Acting Rehearsal in a Networked Virtual Environment-A Case Study

In order to rehearse for a play or a scene from a movie, it is generally required that the actors are physically present at the same time in the same place. In this paper we present an example and experience of a full body motion shared virtual environment (SVE) for rehearsal. The system allows actors and directors to meet in an SVE in order to rehearse scenes for a play or a movie, that is, to perform some dialogue and blocking (positions, movements, and displacements of actors in the scene) rehearsal through a full body interactive virtual reality (VR) system. The system combines immersive VR rendering techniques as well as network capabilities together with full body tracking. Two actors and a director rehearsed from separate locations. One actor and the director were in London (located in separate rooms) while the second actor was in Barcelona. The Barcelona actor used a wide field-of-view head-tracked head-mounted display, and wore a body suit for real-time motion capture and display. The London actor was in a Cave system, with head and partial body tracking. Each actor was presented to the other as an avatar in the shared virtual environment, and the director could see the whole scenario on a desktop display, and intervene by voice commands. A video stream in a window displayed in the virtual environment also represented the director. The London participant was a professional actor, who afterward commented on the utility of the system for acting rehearsal. It was concluded that full body tracking and corresponding real-time display of all the actors' movements would be a critical requirement, and that blocking was possible down to the level of detail of gestures. Details of the implementation, actors, and director experiences are provided

Story Experience in a Virtual San Storytelling Environment: A Cultural Heritage Application for Children and Young Adults

This dissertation explores virtual storytelling for conveying cultural stories effectively. We set out to investigate: (1) the strengths and/or weaknesses of VR as a storytelling medium; (2) the use of a culturally familiar introductory VE to preface a VE presenting traditional storytelling; (3) the relationship between presence and story experience. We conducted two studies to pursue these aims. Our aims were stated in terms of effective story experience, in the realm of cultural heritage. This was conceptualised as a story experience where story comprehension, interest in the story’s cultural context and story enjoyment were achieved, and where boredom and confusion in the story were low. This conceptualisation was empirically validated by our studies. Three storytelling scenarios were created to tell a traditional San story: text (T); a storytelling VE with no introductory VE (VR+NI); a storytelling VE with a hip-hop themed introductory VE (VR+I). These scenarios comprised our experimental conditions. Questionnaires, measuring interest in hip-hop and the story experience aspects identified above, were developed and psychometrically validated. Study 1 was conducted with a sample of 44 high-school learners and Study 2 with 98 university students. Both studies used a between-subjects design. Study 2 was a refined version of Study 1, improving Study 1’s questionnaires for use in Study 2 and considering two additional variables: attention to the story and perceived strangeness of the story. For our first aim, story experience in the text and VR storytelling scenarios were compared. In Study 1 and 2, comprehension was significantly higher in the T condition than in the two VR conditions combined and attention was higher in Study 2’s T condition. Therefore, we conclude that text is better for achieving story comprehension. In Study 1, interest and enjoyment were significantly higher in the VR condition, while boredom was higher in the T condition. But, no significant differences between text and VR were noted for these variables in Study 2. Comparisons of the T and VR conditions across Study 1 and 2 showed a particularly poor story experience in Study 1’s T group; we speculate that this was due to differences in Study 1 and 2’s samples and procedures. Barring this, there were no interest, enjoyment or boredom differences between T and VR across Study 1 and 2. Thus, we conclude, conservatively, that text and VR are equally good in terms of interest enjoyment and boredom. Confusion was higher in Study 1’s T condition, but this result was counter-intuitive since this condition had also shown higher comprehension. In contrast, Study 2’s VR condition showed significantly higher confusion and lower strangeness. We conclude that Study 1’s participants had reported strangeness rather than confusion and, while virtual storytelling resulted in more confusion, it also resulted in less perceived strangeness of the story. Presence and story experience in the VR+NI and VR+I storytelling scenarios were compared for our second aim. The introductory VE only had an effect for participants who showed a pre-existing interest in hip-hop. In Study 1’s VR+I condition, hip-hop interest was a significant predictor of enjoyment. In Study 2’s VR+I condition, those who identified hip-hop as a favourite music genre showed significantly higher presence than those who identified other genres as a favourite. This suggests that strongly themed introductory VE’s do not benefit virtual storytelling, and that content familiarity and preference interact with VE content to influence virtual experiences. Regarding our third aim; we did not find strong evidence of a relationship between presence and story experience since presence only correlated significantly with interest in Study 1

Design e tecnologie digitali per la danza. Dispositivi di progettazione coreografica del movimento.

La tesi analizza e approfondisce l\u2019influenza delle tecnologie digitali nella danza contemporanea, domandandosi quali siano gli apporti del design dell\u2019interazione in questo ambito. I cambiamenti subiti dalla danza negli ultimi anni, infatti, hanno dimostrato come il movimento del danzatore possa venire ricostruito e reinterpretato attraverso le tecnologie digitali. Si assiste alla produzione di artefatti e dispositivi digitali (CD, DVD, siti web, intelligenze artificiali) che hanno ampliato i confini della danza. Tali artefatti vengono qui definiti come dispositivi coreografici: non sono sostituti della danza dal vivo ma il prodotto di una pratica interdisciplinare e collaborativa che mira a visualizzare, comprendere e trasmettere il progetto coreografico. I casi studio scelti sono analizzati non tanto per la loro ricaduta estetica quanto per le modalit\ue0 secondo cui sono progettati i supporti, enfatizzandone gli elementi di rottura (cap. 1). Attraverso un approccio speculativo che incorpora esperienze pratiche, analizzando i dispositivi e intervistando i protagonisti, e prospettive teoriche, avvalendosi di studi che hanno enfatizzato la collaborazione tra danza e design dell\u2019interazione, emerge chiara l\u2019idea che \ue8 il sistema collaborativo a dare forma al progetto, modellando il prodotto finito. Se i dispositivi coreografici sono il frutto di uno scambio di conoscenze tra professionalit\ue0 diverse, vengono presi in considerazione i nuovi ruoli assunti dal danzatore e dal coreografo, in relazione alle tecnologie in uso (cap. 2). Viene cos\uec introdotta la figura del progettista dell\u2019interazione, inteso come designer dramaturg attorno cui ruotano le continue negoziazioni tra dimensione corporea e possibilit\ue0 tecnologiche. Vengono, dunque, astratti alcuni principi progettuali, tanto per comprendere l\u2019idea di performativit\ue0 in relazione alle tecnologie digitali, quanto per posizionare il designer dell\u2019interazione nell\u2019orizzonte delle pratiche performative contemporanee (cap. 3). Tale operazione permette di affermare che lo sviluppo dei dispositivi coreografici produce conoscenze che possono essere trasposte al di fuori del settore performativo. Il corpo viene riconosciuto non in quanto soggetto, ma materia della sperimentazione tecnologica: la pratica della danza diviene un luogo di collaborazione nel quale sperimentare e ripensare le interazioni con gli oggetti della vita quotidiana

Embodied Imagination: An Exploration of Participatory Performance and Interactive Technology to Support Stroke Recovery

Life after a stroke leads to the challenge of adjusting to new possibilities and fosters an increased risk of social isolation and depression. Re-building personal narratives and creating new community networks are key to conceiving an identity beyond the stroke. In this context, participatory performance provides methods for exploring physical and social identities, imagining new ways of being. Meanwhile, digital technology offers tools to help envision these possibilities. A participatory performance workshop supported by real-time motion capture technology has been redesigned in collaboration with the performance company Split Britches. The Green Screening workshop’s objective is to help stroke survivors imagine new physical and social possibilities by enacting fantasies of things they have always wanted to do. Participants construct storylines supported by a custom-built interactive scenography. Movement data is collected and transformed into real-time visualisations to progressively build fantasy narratives enacted with and for other participants. Three research studies conducted with stroke support groups around England analysed progressive iterations of the Green Screening workshop. The first study focused on the project's feasibility in aiding social support. The second study explored embodied imagination and social collaboration in enacted storylines. Finally, the third study analysed communication as a means of recovery and further potential to foster social collaboration. Findings are based on qualitative analysis of the participants' experience. Results reveal that the narrative process and visualisations encouraged a rich repertoire of improvised movements, and the communal aspect of the process was found especially important in achieving these results. This work argues that this framework can simultaneously bring a rich, prospective and political understanding of people’s lived experience to the design space in HCI and provide community stroke support