Lasers and XR

Working with VR is challenging, both for the performers, but also the spectators. With on-screen visual feedback, it’s sometimes difficult to understand what is happening inside of the virtual scene. Where is the virtual avatar of the performer? If there are animated avatars, like in our piece Anxious Arrivals, where are they located? And where in the world is this 3D wall placed? We do not want the virtual performer to bump into it.

We tried to answer all of these questions by doing a small workshop with Ofer Smilansky, a light artist based in Brussels, Be. With the lasers, we managed to first have a 1:1 representation of our virtual components. We then, as circles, represented the positions of the virtual performer Shelbatra Jashari. It happens that with wired Mocap suits, we have some drift issues that can’t be solved right away. It’s a good way for the performers to know where they are placed in this parallel world they can’t see. And same for animated components such as other characters, we are now able to follow their laser circles.

This was an interesting experiment that we need to continue exploring. Lasers and audience are indeed not a good match for safety reasons, but we could find other ways to continue digging into real representations of the virtual realities.