Media in performance - Interactive spaces for dance, theater, circus, and museum exhibits - media actors approach

Aug 26, 2026

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Media in performance explores how interactive media can evolve into expressive communication across film, theater, dance, circus, and narrative forms. The work presents a “media actors” software and authoring architecture that uses real-time computer-vision body tracking and gesture recognition to coordinate digital media with human performers or museum visitors. Media objects are endowed with perceptual intelligence, behaviors, personality, and intentionality to support believable, aesthetic responses to movement and gesture. Applications cover interactive stages and networked circus environments, along with perceptive interactive museum exhibits, supported by a taxonomy of scripted, responsive, learning, behavioral, and intentional architectures.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryTechnology

FormatPDF

Pages32

Reading Time1 h 21 min

AccessFree to download

Interactive performance and communication modalities

Media actors architecture and real-time tracking

Authoring categories: scripted, responsive, learning, behavioral, intentional

Interactive spaces and application domains

Interactive stage for dance and theater

Networked circus environment

Interactive museum exhibit design

Background: authoring techniques and autonomous agents

Behavior-based autonomous agents in graphics

Limits for multimedia, digital storytelling, and interactive performance

Media in performance: Interactive spaces for dance, theater, circus, and museum exhibits by F. Sparacino G. Davenport A. Pentland The future of artistic and expressive communication in the varied forms of ﬁlm, theater, dance, and narrative tends toward ablend of real and imaginary worlds in which moving images, graphics, and text cooperate with humans and among themselves in the transmission of a message. We have developed a“media actors” software architecture used in conjunction with real-time computer-visionbased body tracking and gesture recognition techniques to choreograph digital media together with human performers or museum visitors. We endow media objects with coordinated perceptual intelligence, behaviors, personality, and intentionality. Such media actors are able to engage the public in an encounter with virtual characters that express themselves through one or more of these agents. We show applications to dance, theater, and the circus, which augment the traditional performance stage with images, video, music, and text, and are able to respond to movement and gesture in believable, aesthetical, and expressive manners. We also describe applications to interactive museum exhibit design that exploit the media actors’perceptual abilities while they interact with the public. Our society’s modalities of communication are rapidly changing. Large panel displays and screens are being installed in many public spaces, ranging from open plazas, to shopping malls, to private houses, to theater stages and museums. In parallel, wearable computers are transforming our technological landscape by reshaping the heavy, bulky desktop computer into a lightweight, portable device that is accessible at any time. Such small computers, accompanied by a high-resolution private eye for display and by an input device, have already added an additional dimension to our ﬁve senses since they allow us to wear technology just as an element of our everyday clothing. Transmission of information through these media requires new authoring tools that are able to respond reliably not just to mouse point-and-click or drag-and-drop actions, but also to more natural full-body movements, hand gestures, facial expressions, object detection, and location. Interactive experiences in general beneﬁt from natural interactions, compelling communication, and ease of implementation. We show, according to these principles, how interactive media architectures can be categorized as scripted, responsive, learning, behavioral, or intentional. We have developed a “media actors” authoring technique: We endow media objects—expressive text, photographs, movie clips, audio, and sound clips—with coordinated perceptual intelligence, behaviors, personality, and intentionality. Such media actors are able to engage the public in an encounter with virtual characters that express themselves through one or more of these agents. They are an example of intentional architectures of media modeling for interactive environments. Since 1995, we have constructed a variety of interactive spaces, 1 and each of them has inspired a revision and improvement of our authoring techniques. rCopyright 2000 by International Business Machines Corporation. Copying in printed form for private use is permitted without payment of royalty provided that (1) each reproduction is done without alteration and (2) the Journal reference and IBM copyright notice are included on the ﬁrst page. The title and abstract, but no other portions, of this paper may be copied or distributed royalty free without further permission by computer-based and other information-service systems. Permission to republish anyother portion of this paper must be obtained from the Editor. IBM SYSTEMS JOURNAL, VOL 39, NOS 3&4, 2000 0018-8670/00/$5 .00 © 2000 IBM SPARACINO, DAVENPORT, AND PENTLAND 479 In this paper we focus primarily on our performance and interactive museum work. For dance and theater, we have built an

FAQs

What is the “media actors” approach described in the document?

It is a software and authoring architecture that equips media objects (text, images, video, and audio) with coordinated perceptual intelligence, behaviors, personality, and intentionality for interaction with people and performers.

How does the system adapt digital media to a performer’s movements or gestures?

It uses real-time computer-vision body tracking and gesture recognition so that projected images, graphics, text, music, and sound can synchronize with the user’s actions.

Which performance settings and exhibit types are presented as applications?

The document covers interactive dance and theater stages, a networked virtual circus environment, and interactive museum exhibit designs including personalized exhibit documentaries played on wearable displays.

Aug 26, 2026

Upload by Angel