this is what i sent....we can always change/alter as need be
forgive anything you hate in this, i've done my best
i've had lots of help, Twyla, Jim, Monika, Karin, etc etc etc
exhale,
juli
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 17:57:36 -1000 (HST)
From: Juli Burk <burk@hawaii.edu>
To: AACE@virginia.edu
Subject: ED-MEDIA/TELECOM proposal
Program Chairs ED-MEDIA 98/AACE
P.O. Box 2966
Charlottesville, VA 22902, USA
E-Mail: AACE@virginia.edu
Phone: 804-973-3987
FAX: 804-978-7499
**Cover page for Ed-Media 98 Submission**
submission type: Demonstration
title: oudeis: A World-Wide Odyssey Through
Multimedia Performance
topic areas: Cooperative/Collaborative Learning
Human-Computer Interface (HCI) Issues
Interactive Learning Environments
Multimedia/Hypermedia Applications
Online and Networked Education
Virtual Reality
contact presenter: Juli Burk
University of Hawai'i
Department of Theatre and Dance
1770 East West Rd.
Honolulu, HI 96822
Telephone: 808-956-2600
Fax: 808-956-4234
E-mail: burk@hawaii.edu
Presenters: Gernot Lechner
Holochergasse 34/DG
1150 Vienna, Austria
Telephone: (++43) 1/982-95-25
E-mail: kispro@oudeis.org
Karin Mayer
Holochergasse 34/DG
1150 Vienna, Austria
Telephone: (++43) 1/982-95-25
E-mail: kispro@oudeis.org
Jim Terral
RR1 S11
3616 Village Road C27
South Slocan, BC
V0G 2G0 Canada
Telephone: +1 250 365 7292 extension 312
E-mail: jterral@netidea.com
oudeis: A World-Wide Odyssey Through Multimedia Performance
This demonstration introduces the scope, goals, and current status of the
oudeis project, (http://www.oudeis.org) a multimedia, multi-location
theatrical event based on Homer's classic epic, the Odyssey. The session
is divided into four equal parts, each with time allotted for discussion
before moving on. We 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 show a video record of the
second formal presentation of the scene titled "Among Immortals", staged
as part of the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria. The third
portion of the session examines the ways in which the online audience
participates both as spectators and interactive creators of the event.
Part four of the demonstration features 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 MOO-Web performance that could
be scheduled before June 1998.) Technically, the session can be
supported through the rentals of equipment, which we are willing to
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 programming 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. And, as an
internet occupant, it operates as an extremely low bandwidth member of the
community. It can be accessed from any platform and with the oldest of
equipment. Theater audiences in moo space are manifold. They connect with
equipment that ranges from DOS and antiquated NExt platforms to Macs,
Win95, linux, VMS, and Unix machines. MOO accommodates them all.
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 MOO-Web stage is 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 follows 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' 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. 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.
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
===============================================================================