> addresses, email, etc for each.
>
Jim TerralSelkirk College
Box !200
Castlegar, BC
V1N 3J1 Canada
+1 250 365 7292 ext 312 work
+1 250 359 8076 home
jterral@netidea.com
> Freiburg Proposal: Demonstration
Key Terms:Cooperative/Collaborative Learning, Human-Computer Interface
(HCI) Issues, Interactive Learning Environments, Multimedia/Hypermedia
Applications, Online and Networked Education, Virtual Reality.
>
>
> 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 Odyssey.
> 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
"Among Immortals"
> Ars Electronika Festival in Linz, Austria. The third portion of the
Electronica
> 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.
I would suggest this possibility a little less enthusiastically--equipment which
the proposers can provide, are willing to function.
> 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
I don't understand what you mean by "beyond the technical skills of most students"
All they really need is a lab with Netscape.
> 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.
I would sure like to learn more about this. Is oudeis going to be a lehrstuck?
> Making MOO performance requires neither
> extensive funding nor programming expertise. Among Immortals premiered at
"Among Immortals"
> 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
MOO (caps, as elsewhere)
> 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.
>
> ===============================================================================
> 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
> ===============================================================================
I think you say some extravagant things about the role of the audience in oudeis.
But you obviously have some ideas about how to pull it off .So let's give it a try.
I'll cover for you.
-- Jim Terral South Slocan, BC http://www.netidea.com/~jterral/ http://moo.hawaii.edu/athemoo/WebMOO.html