Live from the metaverse: virtual XR performances for audiences on-stage, online, in-game, and in-VR

ABSTRACT

In the Fall of 2019, Lifelike & Believable Animation Design, in partnership with Animatrik Film Design, began a multi-year collaboration with world-renowned circus arts collective, Les 7 Doigts (The 7 Fingers) to explore the combination of realtime motion-capture, rendering and projection with traditional circus disciplines to create unique theatrical performances simultaneously presented before live theatre audiences and remotely-connected VR participants. This collaboration came to be known as "The LiViCi Series" (for Live Virtual Circus).

Shocap Entertainment was born in April 2020 out of this partnership, and in 2021, Shocap and Les 7 Doigts announced plans to present "The LiViCi Series", a hybrid livestream / immersive performance series combining live music with deathdefying acrobatics in cinematic virtual environments.

In this session, presented from Animatrik's performance capture studio in Burnaby, British Columbia, just outside of Vancouver, Shocap Executive and Creative Director, Athomas Goldberg, along with Les 7 Doigts Artistic Director, Samuel Tetreault, will discuss the unique technical challenges and creative opportunities that come with capturing the breathtakingly dynamic motion of trained circus performers in real-time and translating that into a poetic and life-affirming digital expression.

In a series of discussions and live demonstrations, we will take you through the live virtual performance production process, including a discussions of the tools, techniques and best practices used to bring this to project to life, and give you a glimpse into what we have in store for the future of live physical performance that bridges the real and virtual worlds.

Index Terms

• Computing methodologies

  • Computer graphics

    • Animation