Comments please, this has to go out thursday....
Plus, who can I say will be going, we can always change that part. I need
addresses, email, etc for each.
Freiburg Proposal: Demonstration
Title: Oudeis: A World-Wide Odyssey Through Multimedia Performance
This demonstration will introduce the scope, goals, and current status of
the Oudeis project, a multimedia, multi-location theatrical event based on
Homer's classic epic. The session will be divided into four equal parts,
each with time allotted for discussion before moving on. We will begin
with an introduction to the genesis and history of this experiment in
combining live and virtual actors on a wide variety of live and virtual
stages. Then we will show a video record of the second formal
presentation of the scene titled Among Immortals, staged as part of the
Ars Electronika Festival in Linz, Austria. The third portion of the
session will examine the ways in which the online audience participates
both as spectators and interactive creators of the event. Part four of
the demonstration will feature a live performance of further developments
in the MOO-Web aspect of the performance (or if this is impossible, a
prerecorded video record of a performance that could be scheduled before
June 1998.) Technically, the session can be supported through the
rentals of equipment, which the proposers will provide. We would like to
have an internet hookup, but are able to function without it if need be.
Ed-Media/Telecom participants should find this session particularly
interesting as it presents an investigation of human-computer-human
interaction, an essential element in much distance education. For the
online audience, the moo-web performance is the sum total of their
experience, thus it stands both distinct from and at the same time exists
as an integral part of the total performance which includes physical
stages. We selected this element of the project for demonstration because
we believe that it provides a model for other types of interactive
computer-mediated learning not only in the humanities, but many other
disciplines.
In the late 400s BCE, Aristotle's Poetics outlined a general understanding
of the place of theatre in society. His observations in that essay have
formed the base for the majority of theatrical creation in the Western
world. In it, he argues that the value of theatre is basically education.
The spectator learns by participating vicariously in the performance.
Spectators at any of oudeis' stages will not only be exposed to the most
innovative performance of the century, they will learn about and from
Homer's work. Online spectators, by virtue of literal participation in
creating the performance event, experience their learning even more
directly than Aristotle could have imagined. ED-Media/Telecom's
participants will be able to discuss ideas for applying this MOO
performance model to their own specific disciplines.
Although the web aspect of the performance may be beyond the technical
skills of most students, the MOO environment provides a perfect setting in
which educators and their students can create performance with educational
rather than specifically entertainment goals. In the twentieth century,
central theatre theorist and creator Bertolt Brecht created a form of
theatre known as lehrstuck or learning play. The purpose was to have the
participants make the performance themselves; in the very making of it,
the learning takes place. Making MOO performance requires neither
extensive funding nor programming expertise. Among Immortals premiered at
the Museum of Modern Art in Vienna in July 1997; its second showing was at
the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz in September. The focus of these
initial performances has, by necessity, been on the physical performance
spaces and on solving hardware problems. The next step in the process is
to realize the potential of the moo environment. This is the step that we
wish to demonstrate and discuss.
One of the most important features of the MOO environment is that it does
not necessitate expensive hardware and software to use. It can be
accessed from any platform and with the oldest of equipment. As a net
occupant, it operates as an extremely low bandwidth member of the
community. Further, the skills needed to interact there include less than
a dozen commands, and the creation of rooms and objects can be taught in
just a few sessions. As a text-based medium, MOO provides a unique
opportunity to focus on the creation of the dramatic world through words,
demanding that participants engage their imaginations. Pedagogically, it
fits perfectly with trends in what American universities have called
Writing Intensive learning. However, there is a place for the visual and
aural in MOO as new developments have lead to the ability to integrate
web-based images and sounds directly into the environment.
As Oudeis is currently conceived, the web and MOO stages are represented
on large screens at the rear of each physical stage and audiences
attending the performance online not only experience the performance, but
participate in it as creators, are cast as the gods overseeing Odysseus'
journey. The scenes of Homer's Odyssey are performed by a group of
disparately located performers. There is one actor on each physical stage
and each actor is represented simultaneously on all the other stages by
cones of light that respond to input from biosensors transmitted over the
internet. In addition to the participants who are learning and
experimenting, the team of collaborators making the performances hail from
Austria, the United States, Canada, Argentina, Israel, the United Kingdom,
and Australia. The goal of the team is to create a global theatre
production that will follow the journey of Odysseus across physical stages
in seven locations around the globe as well as the cyberstages of the
World Wide Web and the synchronous online environment of ATHEMOO.
The appearance of Oudeis is unlike anything else in theatre. Its
additional resources of the Internet technologies of MOO and the World
Wide Web allow for a unique "twist" on the concepts of scenic design.
ATHEMOO, Oudeis's port of call in the world of Multi-User dimensions, is
predominantly a text-based medium. This means that the tale of Odysseus
unfolds before your eyes in the manner of an instantaneous script or even
the super-titles seen during performances of opera. The Web pages devoted
to the Oudeis performances add the visual elements often craved by
theatre-goers. These pages use Shockwave technology to elucidate such
things as the scenic backgrounds seen by those at the physical performance
spaces, or the ambient factors of light and color creating the moods, or
sometimes the characters. Also available on the Web pages are detailed
histories of the development of the piece, from artistic, technical and
organizational standpoints, as well as ways for others to become involved,
a record of previous performances, and a monthly newsletter.
Oudeis reaches to a worldwide audience by simultaneously broadcasting in
multiple languages in both the live and Internet media. This accomplishes
several goals. Partly this is for ease of communication among an
international audience, but it also simulates the language barriers that
Odysseus himself may have had to face. The current languages are Spanish,
German, and English, but there are some tentative plans to expand that to
include French and possible additional languages as needed or desired.
This demonstration of Oudeis is more than qualified to participate in
Freiburg. As we perceive your request for participants, this unique
opportunity qualifies under several categories that you seek to fill,
including Cooperative/Collaborative Learning, Human-Computer Interface
(HCI) Issues, Interactive Learning Environments, Multimedia/Hypermedia
Applications, Online and Networked Education, Virtual Reality. There is
tremendous potential for the participants of Ed-Media as well as for the
Oudeis team. We seek the feedback of others engaged in similar ventures
and offer our experiences and discoveries to those who would like to
utilize the MOO environment in any of its many pedagogical uses.
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Juli Burk
University of Hawaii - Dept. of Theatre and Dance
1770 East West Rd.
Honolulu, HI 96822
phone: (808) 956-2600
fax: (808) 956-4234
internet: burk@hawaii.edu
web: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~burk
athemoo: moo.hawaii.edu 9999 or
http://moo.hawaii.edu/athemoo
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