The online conference HOPE! We focussed on digital technologies which expand the spaces of theatre and attract new audiences. Familiar old conventions of theatre are challenged by digital technologies, new spaces are developed through immersive performances.
The spatial expansion into the virtual also allows the audience to take on a new role and become part of the narrative development, co-creating the storyline. More than 20 experts worldwide from theatre, technology and science presented outstanding theatre performances, new research approaches and give hands-on workshops. Panel discussions focussed on how XR technologies can expand theatre aesthetics and create new opportunities for set design, costumes and audience participation.
The HOPE! Christiane HuΜtter, DE, opens the panel with a keynote. She explores, questions and re invents systems with the means of art, game design and storytelling β using social cooperation. Her works cover a wide range of formats from urban games, fictive organizations, citywide revitalizing festivals and playful settings for urban participation. For the past two years, 9 European theatres have been working together in the PlayOn!
On HOPE! Three voices. The northern landscape. Monoliths combine the sound- scapes of real locations with the stories of three northern women. Audiences experience three artistically rendered environments based on real outdoor locations. An exploration on how to meld the real audio soundscape of a location with 3D rendered environments. The audience and the actors become active participants in a dystopia that, thanks to the support of a mobile voting and chatting app, allows them to influence the storyline.
Spatial sound in virtual reality involves the manipulation of audio signals so they mimic acoustic behavior in the real world. An accurate sonic representation of a virtual world is a very powerful way to create a compelling and immersive experience.
