Development Diary Four: The Play's the Thing

Watch our director David discuss directing performance in Social Virtual Reality!

We are officially out of the prototyping phase! Now that we have tested various techniques and concepts in VR dramaturgy, level design, and networking, we are advancing into production mode. This means we are bringing on new team members, such as Unreal expert Todd Bryant, and a sound designer.

We've made huge leaps in networking this past week. Our team met with a VR researcher at NYU's Shanghai campus and tested a system that would allow audience members to enter the virtual space through special "Holodeck" stations in Shanghai, London, and several locations in New York City. We can currently support fifteen people in each of these Holodeck stations. We have also begun creating a system that would allow audience members to access the experience from their home.

Along with these advances come new costs. As of right now, we are largely self-funded. In order to make this project and future productions of Shakespeare in VR viable, please donate here: http://hamletvr.org/.  Anyone who donates more than fifty dollars will be entitled to a free studio visit!

The project is also gathering attention from exciting new partners. This coming week, representatives of Time Magazine, Bell Labs, and the Future of Storytelling conference will visit the studio. 

For more updates like this, sign up at our mailing list in the contact section. Also, follow us on Facebook, Vimeo, and Twitter by clicking the icons at the bottom of this page.

 

Development Diary Three: Crafting a Prince

In the video above, learn how our team is making Prince Hamlet's avatar look as real as the actor playing him.

Our team has made many exciting discoveries in the past week: we have started using facial motion tracking, testing environments, and mapping textures to the 3D avatars.

In next week's development diary, you'll learn the discoveries and challenges our director and actor have encountered while crafting performance for this project.

Have a question about Hamlet? Comment below and a member of our team will answer it as soon as we can!

Development Diary One - Introducing the Prince

For the first time ever, Shakespeare will be performed live in a new reality - virtual reality.

Welcome to the Development Diary of To Be With Hamlet, the world's first live performance and Shakespearean production in Virtual Reality.

Each week, Hamlet's development team will share its challenges, discoveries, and methods through a one minute video and short blog post.

Have a question about Hamlet? Comment below and a member of our team will answer it as soon as we can!

For more about the project and its team, check out our About Page.