Augmenting Opera

Principal Investigator
Prof. Jay Scheib, Music and Theater Arts
Fund: d'Arbeloff Fund
Funding Period: AY2022
Department/Lab/Center: Music and Theater Arts

Professor Jay Scheib seeks support to defray costs associated with acquiring equipment to support a studio seminar in development under the working title Augmenting Opera. This Studio Seminar centers on the deep integration of emerging Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Extended Reality (XR) technologies and techniques in live performance practices. Over the semester students will have the opportunity to gain the skills needed to develop functional performance prototypes using Microsoft HoloLens, Google Glass, Magic Leap, HTC Vive, and/or Oculus Quest. Each semester, a new, contemporary or classical operatic work from the canon will be selected as the basis for a semester long, sustained inquiry. Students develop their own AR/VR opera interventions, reinterpretations, adaptations, or radical disruptions for live performance. Seminar culminates in a live presentation for an invited audience.