But a walking shadow: designing, performing and learning on the virtual stage

Representing elements of reality within a medium, or taking aspects from one medium and placing them in another is an act of remediation. The process of this act, however, is largely taken for granted. Despite the fact that available information enables a qualitative assessment of the history of multimedia and their influences on different fields of knowledge, there are still some areas that require more focused research attention. For example, the relationship between media evolution and new developments in scenographic practice is currently under investigation. This article explores the issue of immediacy as a condition of modern theatre in the context of digital reality. It discusses the opportunities and challenges that recent technologies present to contemporary practitioners and theatre design educators, creating a lot of scope to break with conventions. Here, we present two case studies that look into technology-mediated learning about scenography through the employment of novel computer visualization techniques. The first case study is concerned with new ways of researching and learning about theatre through creative exploration of design artefacts. The second case study investigates the role of the Immersive Virtual World Second Life™ (SL) in effective teaching of scenography, and in creating and experiencing theatrical performances

Scenography and new media technologies: history, educational applications and visualization techniques

The endemic presence of digital technology is responsible for numerous changes in contemporary Western societies. This study examines the role of multimedia within the field of theatre studies, with particular focus on the theory and practice of theatre design and education. In the cross-disciplinary literature review, I investigate such primary elements of contemporary media as interactivity, immersion, integration and hyper-textuality, and explore their characteristics in the performing arts before and during the digital epoch. I also discuss various IT applications that transformed the way we experience, learn and co-create our cultural heritage. In order to illustrate how computer-generated environments could change the way we perceive and deliver cultural values, I explore a suite of rapidly-developing communication and computer-visualization techniques, which enable reciprocal exchange between viewers, theatre performances and artefacts. I analyze novel technology-mediated teaching techniques that attempt to provide a new media platform for visually-enhanced information transfer. My findings indicate that the recent changes towards the personalization of knowledge delivery and also towards student-centered study and e-learning necessitated the transformation of the learners from passive consumers of digital products to active and creative participants in the learning experience. The analysis of questionnaires and two case studies (the THEATRON and the VA projects) demonstrate the need for further development of digital-visualization techniques, especially for studying and researching scenographic artefacts. As a practical component of this thesis, I have designed and developed the Set-SPECTRUM educational project, which aims to strengthen the visual skills of the students, ultimately enabling them to use imagery as a creative tool, and as a means to analyze theatrical performances and artefacts. The 3D reconstruction of Norman Bel Geddes' set for The Divine Comedy, first of all, enables academic research of the artefact, exposing some hitherto unknown design-limitations in the original set-model, and revealing some construction inconsistencies; secondly, it contributes to educational and creative practices, offering an innovative way to learn about scenography. And, thirdly, it fills a gap in the history of the Western theatre design. This study attempts to show that when translated into digital language, scenographic artefacts become easily retrievable and highly accessible for learning and research purposes. Therefore, the development of such digital products should be encouraged, but care should also be taken to provide the necessary training for users, in order to realize the applications' full potential

Contours of Inclusion: Inclusive Arts Teaching and Learning

The purpose of this publication is to share models and case examples of the process of inclusive arts curriculum design and evaluation. The first section explains the conceptual and curriculum frameworks that were used in the analysis and generation of the featured case studies (i.e. Understanding by Design, Differentiated Instruction, and Universal Design for Learning). Data for the cases studies was collected from three urban sites (i.e. Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Boston) and included participant observations, student and teacher interviews, curriculum documentation, digital documentation of student learning, and transcripts from discussion forum and teleconference discussions from a professional learning community.The initial case studies by Glass and Barnum use the curricular frameworks to analyze and understand what inclusive practices look like in two case studies of arts-in-education programs that included students with disabilities. The second set of precedent case studies by Kronenberg and Blair, and Jenkins and Agois Hurel uses the frameworks to explain their process of including students by providing flexible arts learning options to support student learning of content standards. Both sets of case studies illuminate curricular design decisions and instructional strategies that supported the active engagement and learning of students with disabilities in educational settings shared with their peers. The second set of cases also illustrate the reflective process of using frameworks like Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to guide curricular design, responsive instructional differentiation, and the use of the arts as a rich, meaningful, and engaging option to support learning. Appended are curriculum design and evaluation tools. (Individual chapters contain references.

Active learning in the lecture theatre using 3D printed objects

The ability to conceptualize 3D shapes is central to understanding biological processes. The concept that the structure of a biological molecule leads to function is a core principle of the biochemical field. Visualisation of biological molecules often involves vocal explanations or the use of two dimensional slides and video presentations. A deeper understanding of these molecules can however be obtained by the handling of objects. 3D printed biological molecules can be used as active learning tools to stimulate engagement in large group lectures. These models can be used to build upon initial core knowledge which can be delivered in either a flipped form or a more didactic manner. Within the teaching session the students are able to learn by handling, rotating and viewing the objects to gain an appreciation, for example, of an enzyme’s active site or the difference between the major and minor groove of DNA. Models and other artefacts can be handled in small groups within a lecture theatre and act as a focal point to generate conversation. Through the approach presented here core knowledge is first established and then supplemented with high level problem solving through a "Think-Pair-Share" cooperative learning strategy. The teaching delivery was adjusted based around experiential learning activities by moving the object from mental cognition and into the physical environment. This approach led to students being able to better visualise biological molecules and a positive engagement in the lecture. The use of objects in teaching allows the lecturer to create interactive sessions that both challenge and enable the student

The Set-SPECTRUM Project - scenographic reconstruction and theatre education [cover story]

An appreciation of American designer Norman Bel Geddes and an educational CD which features a 3D visualization of his 1921 production of The Divine Comedy

Using Augmented Reality as a Medium to Assist Teaching in Higher Education

In this paper we describe the use of a high-level augmented reality (AR) interface for the construction of collaborative educational applications that can be used in practice to enhance current teaching methods. A combination of multimedia information including spatial three-dimensional models, images, textual information, video, animations and sound, can be superimposed in a student-friendly manner into the learning environment. In several case studies different learning scenarios have been carefully designed based on human-computer interaction principles so that meaningful virtual information is presented in an interactive and compelling way. Collaboration between the participants is achieved through use of a tangible AR interface that uses marker cards as well as an immersive AR environment which is based on software user interfaces (UIs) and hardware devices. The interactive AR interface has been piloted in the classroom at two UK universities in departments of Informatics and Information Science

Mixed Reality’s Ability To Craft And Establish An Experience Of Space

Mixed Reality, when integrated into architecture, will enable open spaces and the perception of the built environment to change rapidly with little physical fabrication. As architects, we design with a desired experience of space in mind and don’t typically design with a rapidly changing built environment to meet a fluctuating programmatic demand. Theater Program however, often requires such rapid changes to the perceived environment, that is the stage, and is an activator of social interaction based on a shared experience of the performances. What would be the architectural implications if we were to integrate mixed reality as a factor of the built environment? Is mixed reality technology even able to create an altered experience of space? To help answer this question the research conducted thorough investigation of phenomenological relations and studies and testing using the Microsoft HoloLens was conducted to simulate or verify the relations and studies. As a final output, Theater with Mixed Reality integrated into the design process as a key deciding design factor will be the main programmatic research and output of this project postulating both a built environment and flexible use space as possible means to redefine the architectural definition as we currently know as a Theatre

Augmented reality and holograms for the visualization of mechanical engineering parts

There is an increasing number of students using tablets in schools. Mobile devices gained popularity as an educational tool and there are many schools that use them frequently in educational activities to improve learning. We found that first year students of mechanical engineering in general have difficulties in understanding 3D shapes from 2D views. There are many Augmented Reality (AR) applications available that can be used to create educational contents for these mobile devices. On the other hand, there is an increasing interest in making holograms. In this paper we studied the most popular AR systems and show examples of using an AR system for the visualization of 3D models. We also present the creation of a low cost prototype, the EducHolo, that enables the visualization of holograms supported by tablets. With this prototype students can visualize the hologram of mechanical parts, providing a better perception of the model 3D shape and improving the ability of making the 2D orthographic views and perspectives that they study in the first year of mechanical engineer

Visualizing bacteria-carrying particles in the operating room: exposing invisible risks

Surgical site infections occur due to contamination of the wound area by bacteria-carrying particles during the surgery. There are many surgery preparation conditions that might block the path of clean air in the operating room, consequently increasing the contamination level at the surgical zone. The main goal of the current study is to translate this knowledge into a perceivable tool for the medical staff by applying state-of-the-art simulation and visualization techniques. In this work, the results of numerical simulations are used to inform visualization. These results predict the airflow fields in the operating rooms equipped with mixing, laminar airflow and temperature-controlled airflow ventilation systems. In this regard, the visualization uses a virtual reality interface to translate the computational fluid dynamics simulations into usable animations. The results of this study help the surgical and technical staff to update their procedures by using the provided virtual tools.publishedVersio