Other Lives

Other Lives is an interactive installation that invites people to engage with a pre-recorded performance through a mixed-reality pod and a network of hanging sculptural speakers. The project explores the objects and interfaces of virtual reality systems, situating the viewer within the physical headspace of the performer and playfully questioning the temporal and spatial borders of live and recorded performance. 

Other Lives is simultaneously a mask, a sentient recording system, and a clumsy archival technology containing incomplete memory fragments from past lives. The organically shaped pod creates a unique virtual reality environment that affords a degree of privacy, but also invites participants to perform, adding their input to the system's collective memory.

VR pod in use

Inside of the fabric/foam pod is a VR screen/headset and small speakers that draw fragments from the pod’s archives and embed the viewer in a recorded performance. A microphone inside of the pod captures the viewer’s voice in real-time, adding it to the pod’s memory and making it available for playback through the speaker orbs. Spectators can swing and bounce the speakers, with the motion triggering sound memories. Simultaneously playful and critical, the system encourages embodied and collective interactions and offers an alternative to transparent VR technologies by actively engaging the material borders between virtual and physical realms. The result is a fractured window into a performance memory that is both spatially and temporally out of order and incomplete.

Technical Requirements

While the technical aspects of the piece are internally complex (a wireless microphone, VR headset, and custom sound circuitry), engagement with the piece is very intuitive. Bouncing and springing the speakers produces sound, and simply entering the pod places the viewer in the performance space. All of the materials and technologies for the piece are contained within the sculptural elements. The installation requires around 10’x10’ of floorspace with the ability to hang relatively lightweight (< 7lb) objects  from multiple points, but it can be configured for a variety of rooms and environments.  

The current pod design is lightweight and suspended using a tool balancer such that the height of the pod is easily adjustable and participants are free to move and spin around while following the 360° video performance. The tool balancer makes the piece accessible for children, adults, and people with limited mobility. The speakers hang on elastic cords from the ceiling. None of the elements are heavy, although for safety it is best if the pod is hung from a load bearing fixture.  

Ideally, the piece would be installed in a space where light can be controlled, or at least reduced. It is also important that the artists have access to the space for a few hours some time before the installation in order to record a new performance in the space.