Playtime for Punctum: Augmented Role-Play
nick alexander
Project Description
Using a technology stack - stereoscopic camera, hand tracking, and VR - a combination of live video feed and virtual elements are integrated into a mixed reality experience featuring a player and a performer. The mix of live video with virtual augmentation allows access to expressive capabilities sharing affordances with games, performance, and role-playing. The production, called Playtime for Punctum, was realized by applying a research-creation methodology inspired by theatrical devising techniques alongside conventional creative practices. The process was documented with an eye to the shifting roles required by the researcher and the affordance of this augmented role-play format were explored, documented and analyzed in order to highlight insights that may be useful for future creators in related fields.
BIO
Nick Alexander is a director, writer, and mixed reality interaction designer specializing in uncanny immersive experiences. A graduate of York University's School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design, Nick has created escape games at Casa Loma, immersive theatre as co-founder of Truesight Collective, and mixed reality worlds with their thesis research as a Masters of Design candidate at OCAD University. Their practice explores the relationship between performer, player, and space, asking participants to play in altered realities. By inhabiting fictional worlds we might, perhaps, come to better understand the real one. Their website is nickalexander.ca