Background Research

Motivation

Recent research suggests that methods and theories in the performance arts offer a possible window for exploring how to design for, and support, performative interaction in Digital Live Art (DLA). DLA is an emerging field of research which sits at the intersection of Computing, Live Art and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and focuses on live, technologically-mediated public performance art [30]. We investigate how DLA in nightclubs and festivals, or “playful arenas” [2] encourages performative interaction and play. This raises a number of interesting research questions concerning how to design for, and evaluate interaction in naturalistic settings where interaction must be intuitive, spontaneous, robust, and physical.

DLA frequently occur in public, outdoor spaces, such as city streets, and often at nighttime in the dark where power sources may be unreliable and low power. Recent calls suggest that understanding how to design interfaces which are suitable for use in the dark is an area of research which requires further exploration [19]. We reflect on these issues in the work presented in this research.

We seek to promote performative interactions in highly mobile and non-discrete spaces that are temporary and fleeting – much like street theatre and walkabout performance, where passers-by stumble upon the performance by chance. This raises questions about how to design interactive systems that are not only intuitive and unobtrusive, but also enticing – that encourage spontaneous interaction by passers-by without any or very little instruction.

We are interested in how to design for performative interaction in spaces which are heavily populated with unwitting bystanders - people who may not be aware of the performance [4,5,33]. Increasingly wireless and peer-to-peer network and sensor capabilities are enabling performances [18,21,32], games [3,10,34] and educational experiences [14,24,25] to move from indoor environments into outdoor public spaces such as the city streets.  However, as [33] discusses, many people are uncomfortable with participating or performing in public or for an audience in DLA. There is a need to consider strategies and alternatives for designing for performative interactions which allow the public to participate (or not to participate) in the performance at a level which is suitably comfortable, and to transition between various levels of activity.

In order to encourage these transitions, we developed a DLA piece which encourages intense and spontaneous shared performative interaction. We called our system uPoi [see the former iPoi project page under PROJECTS].

 

Investigation: The UK Festival Scene

Whilst nightclubs and festivals come in many different forms, we explicitly perform in not-for profit events which promote a sense of shared experience like that found in environmental theatre. As Schechner describes, environmental theatre can be linked to ritual and street life where “all space is used for performance; all the space is used for audience…a sense of shared experience can be engendered” ([26], 177). In these playful arenas, performative interaction is encouraged and often anticipated from all who attend which makes them ideal places to explore ways to entice interaction and engagement.

In the UK music festival scene there are a myriad of different kinds of festivals happening every weekend from Spring to Autumn. Many artists and performers take part in activities at festivals that range from conventional stage-based performance to chanting circles, solar powered saunas, wood whittling workshops, and so on. Such festivals typically last three or four days, occupy several fields in a remote part of the countryside making camping a necessity, and attract a wide range of people of different ages, gender, and political viewpoint. These contrast more commercial festivals where the emphasis is on attracting famous music groups to perform and sell their merchandise.

The images in this section illustrate part of a typical UK music festival with a playful emphasis. In this photograph we see a small food tent – there would be tens of such tents in one festival site – and many festival goers, some of whom are dressed in costume, and some who have their children with them. The advantage to us of such community-based festivals is that organizers and traders are very keen to try new ideas and technologies as they attend the festivals to share, and enjoy new experiences rather than simply to make money.

 

Videos & Photos from Live Performances

Social Interaction and Mundane Technologies

As part of the Social Interaction and Mundane Technologies project led by Mark Rouncefield at Lancaster University, we collected observational data on our cameraphones. Collecting data with the camera phone (Nokia N93) was difficult for a number of reasons. The keypad on the camera phone was not backlit and so it was extremely difficult to switch between modes and to control in the dark. We often had to stick a penlight in our mouth to see what we were doing.

The phone does not indicate how much memory is being used whilst in use as a videocamera meaning that the memory can easily become unexpectedly full. Switching tiny SIM cards is difficult to do in the dark when lots of activity is happening or if the weather is bad. Finding a SIM card in two feet of mud is no easy task!

The camera phone could benefit from having a battery life displayed on the outside of its casing. Again, when the phone is being used as a videocamera we had to switch between modes to see how much battery life we had left (which is indicated on the main display). We could have benefited from having a tiny tripod for the phone. Holding the phone for several hours was straining.

• Festival 1: Notes, Videos, Cameraphone images and observations.
• Festival 2: This festival was a total washout - we didn't actually perform because the weather was so bad. Click here to see HOW bad.
• Festival 3: Notes, Videos, Cameraphone images and observations.
• Redesign Days: Click here to see images of attempts to redesign the casing for light-weight swinging.
• Redesign Days: Redesigning the casing with latex and creating a background image for the 3D graphics by staining paper with tea.
• Redesign Days: Sewing new pockets for the casing with lambswool and LED lights.
• Club Event: In between festivals we were invited to perform at a club in London - see images and video here.
• Festival 4: Our best festival yet - see, hear and read about it.
• Festival 5: The second night at Festival 4 was an even better night!

 

References (for other published findings, see the publications page)

1. Bateson, G. A Theory of Play and Fantasy. Psychiatric Research Reports, 2 (1955), 39-51.
2. Bayliss, A., Sheridan, J.G., and Villar, N. (2005) New Shapes on the Dancefloor: Influencing ambient sound and vision with computationally-augmented poi. International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media 1(1). Intellect: Bristol, pp. 67-82.
3. Bell, M., Chalmers, M., Barkhuus L., Hall, M., Sherwood S., Tennent, P., Brown B., Rowland D., and Benford, S. (2006). Interweaving mobile games with everyday life. In Proc. of CHI 2006, ACM Press (2006), 417-426.
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28. Sheridan, J.G., Bayliss, A. and Bryan-Kinns, N. (2007). The interior life of iPoi: objects that entice witting transitions in performative behaviour. International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media 3(2). Intellect: Bristol.
29. Sheridan, J. G., Dix, A., Bayliss, A. and Lock, S. (2004) Understanding Interaction in Ubiquitous Guerrilla Performances in Playful Arenas. S. In Fincher, P. Markopolous, D. Moore, & R. Ruddle (Eds.): In People and Computers XVIII-Design for Life: 18th British HCI Group Annual Conference, pp. 3-17, Springer-Verlag, 6-10 September, Leeds, UK.
30. Sheridan, J.G. (2006) Digital Live Art: Mediating Wittingness in Playful Arenas, PhD Thesis, Computing Department, Lancaster University, UK.
31. Sheridan, J., Bayliss, A. and Bryan-Kinns, N. (2006). iPoi: acceleration as a medium for digital live art. Demonstration. The 8th International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing, Los Angeles, USA.
32. Sheridan, J.G., Bayliss A. and Bryan-Kinns, N. (2007). iPOI. In Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Culture, Creativity and Interaction Design, 12 September, 2006, Queen Mary, University of London, UK.
33. Sheridan, J.G., Bryan-Kinns, N. and Baylss, A. (2007). Encouraging Witting Participation and Performance in Digital Live Art. 21st British HCI Group Annual Conference, 3-7 September, Lancaster, UK.
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