From: mreaney@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: ANNOUNCE: VR/theatre production
Date: 6 Aug 96 10:24:42 CDT
Organization: University of Kansas Academic Computing Services


VIRTUAL REALITY IN THE THEATRE

LAWRENCE, KANSAS
The University of Kansas Department of Theatre and Film and 
University Theatre announce the formation of the Institute for the 
Exploration of Virtual Realities or i.e.VR and the opening of a new 
VR/theatre production; Arthur KopitUs WINGS .

Under the direction of scenographer and VR technologist, Mark 
Reaney, the newly formed Institute for the Exploration of Virtual 
Realities (i.e.VR, formerly known as the VR On-Stage Project) is still 
dedicated to investigating the use of virtual reality technologies in 
theatre performance but will also facilitate VR studies in other 
disciplines.  

The goal of the Institute is to formalize this unique study of VR, to 
provide for a regular succession of VR/Theatre experiments, to 
generate curriculum offerings that train students in these new 
technologies, to promote and facilitate other studies of VR at the 
University of Kansas and to provide a center of communication 
regarding that work.

After the overwhelming success of our first VR/theatre production, 
1995Us THE ADDING MACHINE: A VIRTUAL REALITY PROJECT,  
members have continued the study in new directions.  The use of VR 
as a method of recording and communicating live performance 
events has resulted in 3-D video clips from several University 
Theatre productions and a complete 3-D video record of our recent 
production of LOVEUS LABORUS LOST.  Further experiments may 
include live and recorded 3-D broadcasts of performance events.

Recent experiments with head-mounted displays in performance 
settings led to a laboratory production of Samuel BeckettUs PLAY.  In 
this production, conceived by graduate student Lance Gharavi, a test 
audience donned Virtual i-OUs i-glasses! and through the use of the i-
glassesU "headUs up" transparent display, were presented with 
combinations of live actors, video recorded actors, and computer 
generated virtual worlds.

                                        ********
On December 2- 10 The University Theatre will present our next 
major VR/theatre production, Arthur Kopit's WINGS.  Directed by 
Ronald A. Willis and designed by Reaney, this production will utilize 
the projected computer graphic system developed for The Adding 
Machine, but will further require that each audience member wear a 
unique head-mounted display (HMD). 

The use of HMDs by an audience in a fully mounted stage production 
should be another first for the VR On-Stage Project.  Again, the HMD 
we have chosen to use is i-glasses! by Virtual i-O.  We are very 
proud to have the Seattle based Virtual i-O Inc. as our sponsor in 
addition to the Virtus Corporation of Cary, North Carolina.  Using i-
glasses!, audiences will still be able to see live actors on-stage and 
computer graphics projected onto rear projection screens. However, 
they will also be presented with computer graphics and live video 
images projected within the HMD. Using these non-immersive HMDs, 
an audience can still maintain a strong connection with live actors. 
Furthermore, the communal nature of the theatre experience is not 
lessened. 

i-glasses! will allow us to present virtual-worlds, computer generated 
objects and video images directly before the eyes of an audience. 
Symbolic devices, realistic locals, expressionist images, or even close-
ups of the actors can be superimposed over the view of the actors.  
The script chosen for the experiment is Wings by Arthur Kopit.  By 
equipping the audience with i-glasses! we seek to devise an exciting 
and innovative method of communicating the main character's 
chaotic state of mind as she suffers a stroke and fights for recovery.  
The unlimited possibilities can not be detailed here, but preliminary 
tests have us VERY excited and eager to continue our explorations

The i.e.VR web site (http://www.ukans.edu/~mreaney) will be 
updated to show our progress as we go through casting, rehearsals, 
and into production.  You can also find information regarding the 
production at Virtual i-O's site.  
http://www.vio.com/vio/vrsource/cutting/cutting.html

       Note: 
Mark D. Reaney can be contacted at (913) 864-3381, e-mail 
MREANEY@KUHUB.CC.UKANS.EDU. Color press photos of a theatre 
audience wearing head-mounted displays are available from Doug 
Koch, Office of University Relations, (913) 864-3256.

The audience will be limited according to the number of i-glasses 
available. The performances are Dec. 2 to 10. For ticket information, 
contact the KU University Theatre at (913) 864-3381. The Web 
address for the department is http://www.ukans.edu/~theatre/