In response to the pandemic, Glastonbury’s immersive art playground Shangri-La reinvented itself as the world’s largest independent music festival in virtual reality.  In this webinar, Kaye Dunnings, Creative Director of Shangri-La and Lost Horizon, talks about the challenges of pivoting to VR in record time, how her 20 years in the events industry shaped Lost Horizon user experience, and the future potential of VR to provide meaningful shared experiences at a time when IRL events remain impossible.

This 1 day short course aims to demystify games engines and their various uses. Designed for people with no prior experience in this area, it will cover the different platforms available and help you choose the right one for your project, and give you an opportunity to try either Unity or Unreal Game Engines.

Digital technologies afford new realities through virtual worlds, avatars, motion capture, facial recognition, and Artificial Intelligence. Yet it is still unclear how we can harness these technologies to build characters, stories, and worlds. We are asking ourselves what digital and theatrical strategies can we bring together to make new work, cross-pollinating the digital and the theatrical. We also wonder what kind of stories can we tell in the new realities of digital theatre and how we can address urgent issues of our times through AR and VR.

Theatre is facing an uncertain future. We know how important it is for those within the community to come together to discuss new possibilities for conceiving, making, and viewing performance. Whether you’re an expert in the field or simply someone with questions, we invite you to talk about the future of digital technology in theatre. We want to facilitate open conversations. You can propose topics and freely participate in discussions. This event is a great opportunity for anyone interested in the performative potential of technology.

AR&VR is becoming increasingly used in theatre, but we are only beginning to explore its potential for audience participation…

At this critical time for theatre, this event brings together cutting-edge artists, immersive tech & IT experts, cultural institutions, gamers, and academics to share knowledge and explore how AR & VR can be used in theatre – and what kind of stories we can tell by collaboratively harnessing the power of immersive tech.