Envision Mixed Reality

This resulted in three performative interactive installations, which could be experienced in various order, where participants explore multiple imagined futures. This experience was presented to, among others, the team of the Enter New Babylon project as inspirational examples of how the physical and virtual space can be mixed, offering an engaging embodied theatrical experience with multiple dramaturgical perspectives.

This project is coached by Marloeke van der Vlugt and Joris Weijdom

Below you will find the description of the three installations written by the students themselves.

Introduction

IPDers often work from the point of view of the audience. This means they think deeply about the effects design choices have on the person experiencing it. They are similar to Constant because his homo ludens, which is so integral to his New Babylon project. They take that concept into account when designing interactive theatrical experiences.

The experiences with VR found that it’s a great tool to create fantastic immersive experiences and environments. However, it can be a complex tool to work with, as you physically have to do a lot of work yourself. Also, it can be physically and mentally draining if you work for continuous periods of time. However, it was fun to see how VR can twist the human mind in the experience of a performative interactive installation.

The experience begins with a pre-booked timeslot for two participants every 30 minutes. All groups will experience the first installation, ‘Transtopia’, after which a choice is offered to go to ‘Human District’ or ‘Wurmitz’.

Transtopia

Created by Vos van der Noordt

The audience enters a hall with three big circles laying on the ground. They all have a different color, and there is a host standing next to them. ‘How do you feel today? Are you having an energetic day, are you up for an adventure? Or would you rather zone out for a minute?

‘Transtopia’ is an interactive VR experience that focusses on the area between A and B, which means the time you spend when moving between two destinations. 
In this event you get to choose between three alternative ways to spend this time; ‘Immerse yourself within beauty’, ‘Lose yourself within scale’, and ‘Turn yourself off with sound’.

After choosing the option, the audience steps into the matching’ transportation circle’ where they put on a (VR) safety helmet. After a few tips and tricks on how to handle the controls, the transition begins and they are free to step and stand where you wish!

In this experience Vos tried to zoom in on a specific element of his utopia, the transportation and the way society is organized around it. Transportation has one of the biggest influences on our society and how we structure our cities. Everything has a function and it has to be efficient and fast. It is ‘genious’ and magnificent in how well it works, but at the same time it kills a lot of possibilities. There is almost no space left for playing, creating or doing things that have no direct efficient function. There is little room to express yourself outside of fixed forms and conventions.
Constant Nieuwenhuijs stated that ‘every human being has a primitive need for vital expression’, and ‘what we call “genius” is nothing else but the power of the individual to free himself from the ruling aesthetic and place himself above it’.

Vos’ perspective on that: we need to create space for it then! Did you know that in the Netherlands alone, onehundredthirtyfivemillion fourhundredseventythousand meters is used for public roads and transport? The solution in Vos’ head is a floating sphere that brings you to your destination via the sky. Therefore, there is no need for public transportation on the surface anymore. And with that way of traveling, we clear not only physical space, but also mental space. We generate room for ourselves to express. In Transtopia you will have thousands different possibilities to create your own transitions in the floating sphere’s and share them with other people. It is a way to design your own moments of adventure, meditation or to meet people and express yourself in a different way. And when you land at your destination, there will be lots of space to do and move the way you want on the surface of the earth. Imagine what playful, creative and (in)effective things we could do with all that space. What would you do with it?

Human District

Created by Roos Jepma, Robin Gommans and Hannelore Havelaar

Human District is an interactive VR experience. Two participants enter through one of the two doors, and get welcomed by three scientists. These performers tell them that they created an engine to look forward into a bleak future where humans have gone extinct, and the only thing left is an archive, and a non-human archivist to take care of it. The archivist tells you that this is the last relic of civilization, where at one point humans learned to live in a way that is not burdensome on the planet. Humanity decided to make nothing new, including human life, and repair as much as possible.

One of the two participants is asked to take shoes off, a scientist than talks the participant through a checklist to ensure they are fit enough for the experience.

One participant experiences the archive in VR by walking on the “monument”, a structure made of two ramps, while the other participant helps you. The first participant floats through the three districts: creation, oasis, and destruction, as the archivist tells you about how the last generation of human society lived.

The monument in the VR world is on scale with the monument the participant walks on in real life. They step through the portals by walking between platforms on the structure. When they enter a district they get a tour on a floating platform that is live puppeteered by one of the scientist.

At the end of the experience they enter a waiting room where the archivist thanks them for their participation. When participant one takes off the VR headset they get time to talk about your experiences with their partner.

With the Human District project the creators tried to make people reflect on themselves and what they leave behind for future generations. They were inspired by sustainable environmental politics, and socialism.

Wurmitz

Created by Lieve van Engelenburg, Thomas Coehoorn and Simon Michels

When the participants enters the door through Wurmiz, they are greeted by two performers who introduce them to the concept of Wurmiz. They explain that an utopia can only be achieved when people work together, and share the burden of a perfect world.

After the introduction a light is shone on a big cage with a swing suspended inside it, with the VR helmet waiting to be put on. Next to the cage is a cog with a crank. One person gets guided into the cage with the VR helmet on, while the other has to slave away at the gear. The participant in the VR world experiences a mystical and abstract world, that can be described as dreamlike. Floating cubes, big tunnels, a haunting forest of red pillars, all in a pitch black environment. A soft soundscape plays, enhancing the installation. While the person on the swing gets to float through this magnificent space, their partner experiences nothing but the turning of the wheel.

The person on the swing can communicate what their seeing to their partner, and they can even decide to switch roles with their partner halfway through. Turning the cog again and again is a tiring exercise that causes friction between who gets to enjoy the experience and who works for it.

This installation questions whether we already live in a utopia if we are willing to work for it. Wurmiz was created to encourage people to work together; to sometimes sacrifice their comfort to let the other experience beautiful things.