Intermission Magazine: A conference exploring digital and mixed-reality Canadian performance is happening in Vancouver.
And Kingston.
And Toronto.
And online.
Across these settings, Single Thread Theatre’s Performance and Extended Realities Conference (PXR) features a mix of live performances, interactive digital presentations, and technical deep dives, as well as virtual and in-person installations.
5 comments:
While this ties into the conversation about AI and different forms of technology integration into theatre, it also falls under the rejuvenation of making art accessible. This hybrid conference is just one example of the recent trend towards making art more accessible. That being said, I think it is interesting that the intended audience is people interested in VR and/or people hoping to integrate VR into their practices. Especially if the headsets are being provided in-person and the at-home equipment is just a PC with no special gear, maybe the emphasis should be put on encouraging new audiences to engage in theatre in a simple capacity. But I suppose this hinges more so on the semantics of what is considered theatre. At the end of the day, it is commendable the effort they are putting in to make art and technology more accessible to the general public, but students in particular as well.
I actually think this is pretty cool. VR and theater combined could prove to be a whole new experience filled with possibilities. I was actually a bit surprised seeing that PXR2026 would be hosted on VRChat. I’ve used that social platform since the pandemic and I would have never expected it to be used for what seems to be such a serious and professional event, but it is nice to see people realize its potential. I’ve used the platform for years to run and participate in extremely immersive DnD Campaigns, which are a bit of a production in themselves and require a lot of work in 3D Modeling, Sound Design, Unity, Lighting Design, Voice Acting, Planning, Research, Organization, Writing, Body Language, Improv, etc. Honestly, from doing these campaigns I can say for sure that the industry does have potential in the VR world and its a good idea to look into!
The title of this article really caught my attention, as I have not heard of a conference or event that isn't a performance being a mixed reality event. This fact alone makes these events that are being held a ground breaking idea that may lead to more events like this being held in the future. Hopefully doing events like these will lead to more people being able to attend conferences when they otherwise would not be able to go, and that would be done by allowing people to attend the conference both in person and remotely. I know that the people attending remotely would not be able to get the full experience, but at least they would still be able to attend. Another part of this article really intrigued me as well, and it is the fact that these events are designed to expose people to VR and mixed reality both for theatrical applications and other adjacent practices.
I think that the technology that is being described here is interesting, but I also have some hesitations about VR/XR theater in general. I think that it is very fitting that this conference for XR is being done in a mixed reality environment. I think that it makes the conference much more accessible and is a great advantage of using VR and XR. It allows people to connect over distances that they would not normally be able to. My concern is that while a connection through VR/XR is better than no connection at all, it is still not a genuine human connection. In my mind, the special thing about theater is its ability to put Humans of different kinds into a room together and have a shared experience. I think that you lose a lot of that if you are not actually with other people, and just see their avatars in a room.
I’m not really a fan of the concept of ‘VR theatre.’ I think in some ways it misses the entire point of theatre as we know it, and that is the fact that it, at its core, is live. It's like how a concert film feels very different from actually being in the room where the concert is happening. There is a screen that is separating the audience from what’s happening, or rather, happened in the space. Something recorded isn’t happening now, it happened at some point in the past, and you can’t interact with it. I think virtual theatre has the same problem, where the world you’re entering, created by the artificial actors and artificial space, isn’t real or tactile at all. That’s not to say that virtual theatre couldn’t have its place as an art form, or that virtual reality or augmented reality couldn’t be incorporated into theatre, but I would certainly argue that they are very different from one another.
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