Stories Incarnate: Using Body-tracking/Body-Sensing Technology to Create Interactive Narrative Experiences for Audiences

Ryerson’s Synaesthetic Media Lab is working with Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group’s creative design studio, 4U2C, to develop several ways for audiences to meaningfully interact with live performance. This project is looking at how tracking sensors, computer vision, and digital displays can be used to track audience movements and/or emotions for audiences to be able to participate in the storytelling of a live show. Through this research, 4U2C — and Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group and its numerous ventures — will be equipped with new, immersive design concepts and technologies that will bring audiences more closely into the co-creation role, as they partake in determining how a live story will unfold.

Faculty Supervisor:

Alexandra Mazalek;Louis-Etienne Dubois;Richard Lachman

Student:

Marisa Samek

Partner:

Cirque du Soleil

Discipline:

Journalism / Media studies and communication

Sector:

Arts, entertainment and recreation

University:

Ryerson University