Output details
35 - Music, Drama, Dance and Performing Arts
University of Surrey
Moments in Place
(a series site-specific augmented-reality performances)
Context:
Moments in Place is a series site-specific augmented-reality performances inviting visitors to consider movement qualities of Place. The work's originality and significance are highlighted by an AHRC DEDEFI award of £435,345 for the development of the underlying Motion in Place Platform (MiPP). MiPP was developed through a combination of traditional scholarship and practice-based application, initially conducting field tests through VERA (Virtual Environments for Research in Archaeology) before addressing contemporary Arts practices through the creation of the Moments in Place project generating performances which remain in place and can be (re)created by an audience.
Aims:
The project explores new means of conducting research and our relationships to our environments. It aims to move out of the studio by developing portable tools and working in non-academic contexts. It demonstrates how digital research tools can be used both for the examination and creation of cultural artifacts.
Methods:
The MiPP platform developed portable motion capture tools to generate quantative data from human movement and spatial relationships. These tools were initially trialed through the (re)construction of movement within an Iron Age Round House, and later to (re)construct performances on the streets of Brighton. Augmented Reality tools are used to locate viewers' positions in relationship to recorded performances and to render performers on viewers' phones through a custom application (app).
Dissemination:
Versions of the work were demonstrated during invited Keynotes and paper presentations at 6 international conferences. An early version was shown at the 2011 Brighton White Nights festival and fully developed for the 2013 Brighton Digital Festival. Downloadable versions of the project app are hosted on both Apple's iTunes Store and Google Play and were installed on more than 1400 devices in more than 50 countries during the course of the Brighton Digital Festival alone.
