Our most recent project was to advance the technology and techniques discovered during production of The Adding Machine. We utilized the projected computer graphic system developed for The Adding Machine, but further required that each audience member wear a unique head-mounted display (HMD). The HMD we chose to use was i-glasses! by Virtual i-O. Using i-glasses!, audiences were still able to see live actors on-stage and computer graphics projected onto rear projection screens. However, they were also presented with computer graphics and live video images projected within the HMD.
The use of HMDs by an audience in a fully mounted production was another first for the VR On-Stage Project. The "see through" technology of i-glasses! made it possible for the user to see through and around the built-in video screens. Using these new non-immersive HMDs, the audience still maintained a strong connection with the live actors. Furthermore, the communal nature of the theatre experience was not lessened.
Airplane scene
i-glasses! allowed us to present virtual-worlds, computer generated objects and video images directly before the eyes of an audience. Symbolic devices, realistic locals, expressionist images, or even close-ups of the actors were superimposed over the view of the actors. The script chosen for the experiment was Wings by Arthur Kopit. By equipping the audience with i-glasses! we sought to devise an exciting and innovative method of communicating the main character's chaotic state of mind as she suffers a stroke and fights for recovery.
(source: www.ku.edu/~mreaney/reaney)