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Tele-Immersive Improv: Effects of Immersive Visualisations on Rehearsing and Performing Theatre Online

Branch, Boyd, Efstratiou, Christos, Mirowski, Piotr, Mathewson, Kory, Allain, Paul (2021) Tele-Immersive Improv: Effects of Immersive Visualisations on Rehearsing and Performing Theatre Online. In: CHI '21: Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. . ACM ISBN 978-1-4503-8096-6. (doi:10.1145/3411764.3445310) (KAR id:87284)

Abstract

Performers acutely need but lack tools to remotely rehearse and create live theatre, particularly due to global restrictions on social interactions during the Covid-19 pandemic. No studies, however, have heretofore examined how remote video-collaboration affects performance. This paper presents the findings of a field study with 16 domain experts over six weeks investigating how tele-immersion affects the rehearsal and performance of improvisational theatre. To conduct the study, an original media server was developed for co-locating remote performers into shared virtual 3D environments which were accessed through popular video conferencing software. The results of this qualitative study indicate that tele-immersive environments uniquely provide performers with a strong sense of co- presence, feelings of physical connection, and an increased ability to enter the social-flow states required for improvisational theatre. Based on our observations, we put forward design recommendations for video collaboration tools tailored to the unique demands of live performance.

Item Type: Conference or workshop item (Proceeding)
DOI/Identification number: 10.1145/3411764.3445310
Subjects: Q Science > QA Mathematics (inc Computing science) > QA 76 Software, computer programming, > QA76.9.H85 Human computer interaction
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > School of Arts
Divisions > Division of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences > School of Computing
Divisions > Division of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences > School of Engineering and Digital Arts
Depositing User: Christos Efstratiou
Date Deposited: 23 Mar 2021 16:16 UTC
Last Modified: 14 Nov 2022 23:11 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/87284 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Branch, Boyd.

Creator's ORCID:
CReDIT Contributor Roles:

Efstratiou, Christos.

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6288-9579
CReDIT Contributor Roles:

Allain, Paul.

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5624-810X
CReDIT Contributor Roles:
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