Introduction to Immersive Tech-Driven Theatre
The following “how-to” was written by Peter English and centers on the making of The Raven. Drawing from over 50 works by Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven invited 24 guests at a time to explore a darkened early 19th Century Mansion. Each guest was given an enchanted lantern, powered by the Internet of Things, and a pair of Augmented Reality glasses to guide their way. The Raven premiered at the New York Film Festival prior to launching a month-long run.
“The term “immersive” is like a big tent, it contains many disciplines. “When we use the word immersive, we mean embodied, interactive, connecting experiences,” says Kathryn Yu, Executive Editor of No Proscenium: The Guide to Everything Immersive. These experiences can include everything from VR and AR, to theme parks, commercial activations, escape rooms, and interactive theater.
While immersive experiences can provide endless opportunity for collaboration and creativity, they can also create challenges for creatives. “If a theater person says, I really want to build an escape room — how does that work?” reflects Yu, “Or if a VR person says, I really want to do something that’s like interactive theater — how do we get over that knowledge gap?” Immersion can take so many forms that it can be hard to know where to start.
Increasingly, the creators of immersive experiences are turning to technology. This tech-driven immersive theater refers to immersive experiences that use sensors, Internet of Things enabled objects, and code to create rich, enveloping storytelling environments.*
In this brief introduction to tech-driven immersive theater, we’ll help hone your thinking and creative process by bringing you various perspectives from established immersive practitioners across the US. By focusing on how to approach the technology, we’ll examine how it works and the concepts behind it.”
