AUREA is a commissioned interactive multimedia performance. New production techniques were integrated in this work for the first time, designed and experimented especially for the event by the fuse* research team. The setup of the show foresees the use of two screens onto which contents generated in real time are projected. The software behind the installation is developed in Openframeworks and it immediately analyses the data from the two movement sensors and the audio flow. A sensor is exploited to analyse the movements of the performer’s body, situated behind him, while the other one analyses his hand movements whenever they touch the front screen.

The software implements various particle systems through computational shaders: for the visual feedback of the hands, for the particles in “space” and to generate particular three-dimensional geometric shapes. All the visible elements of the show are generated in real time through OpenGL libraries; this makes it possible to manage all the hardware and software from a single computer. We may therefore let the performer interact with the forms generated in a natural fashion: for example in one scene, the three-dimensional rotation of the image is controlled directly by his hands, greatly increasing the expressive potential deployed during live shows.

The aim is to create a major graphic interface made up of a series of elements to be visualised as holograms in front of the performer. In order to obtain this result, we worked with a classical theatre technique which foresees the use of a tulle mesh as a projection screen and the lateral illumination of the stage between the two monitors. By modulating the illumination of the stage, we thus have the opportunity to make the performer appear or disappear from the scene.

More info on fuseinteractive.it/works/project/aurea-en/