The Collision of Collaboration: When Real Meets Virtual

Have you ever tried doing a live virtual performance capture with complete strangers from three different mocap stages around the world? Well, let me tell you, it’s a wild and fun ride. FUTURE.STAGE recently had the pleasure of bringing together Patrick Pennefather in Vancouver BC, Nino Mancuso in Pasadena, and Ashton Solecki in Santa Monica for a live and virtual performance capture session.

All three performers logged into our FUTURE.STAGE platform at the same time not really knowing what to expect. After brief introductions, some tech tests, and some awkward virtual small talk, we were all up and running. Each performer was wearing a motion capture suit to capture their movements , and an iPhone running our face capture and communications application called STAGE.KIT. Alastair Macleod was running the Unreal project using STAGE.LINK — our version of Unreal’s Live Link, and helped everyone get setup and connected. Our task was to discover the affordances and constraints of three performers interacting in one virtual stage together.

Ashton performing in Santa Monica, CA.

While the performers were all a bit hesitant and self-conscious, trying to figure out the best way to move their bodies in this new, unfamiliar environment that changed quickly as soon as they started to move and see their avatars move. As they continued to work together, they started to loosen up and get into the groove of things.

The first challenge was to perform a series of silly walks, which quickly turned into a competition of who could come up with the most ridiculous walk. We had one person doing the moonwalk, another doing the robot, and then one attempting some sort of wacky, flailing dance. It was hilarious to watch the virtual character move in the same absurd manner as we did in real life.

Brandon theorizes about what it means to be in the meta verse in Pasadena, CA.

Next up, Patrick decided to use a real world prop, a chair, and stand on it. Since in the virtual Unreal project, there was no chair, he appeared to levitate above the ground plane. The other two performers were impressed, trying themselves to levitate. It was hilarious to see these discoveries unfold.

Finally, they had to perform a series of partnered movements, where they had to coordinate their movements with each other. This was the most challenging part of the session, as they had to communicate and work together to make sure they were in sync. It took a few tries, but they eventually got the hang of it, and the end result was fantastic. Part of figuring out the puzzle was to invert the orientation of the screen to make it feel more like a mirror that the actors could match their movements to.

All three actors performing live in different cities show up one shared virtual stage using FUTURE.STAGE.

Overall, it was an incredibly fun and unique experience, one that we’ll do again but with variations, to keep the challenge fresh and new. It’s amazing how technology can bring people together from all over the world to create something truly unique and entertaining. FUTURE.STAGE is really that, the future of stages. Bringing strangers together from wherever they are in the world to collaborate. The possibilities are endless!