105167Open Access Smart Capture: Immersive accessibility in theatreClosedCollaborative R&DISCF"The National Theatre has successfully pioneered the provision of always-on captioning for deaf patrons using new speech-following technology and augmented reality glasses. We now want to go further and research the technical and production means to deliver a complete range of immersive access services for a range of would-be theatregoers who need additional content to get the most from a theatre performance, namely translation captions for non-English speakers, personalised sign-language displays for BSL users and audio description for visually impaired people. This project will involve detailed investigation of how best to present the new immersive content to new audiences in a way which is most comfortable for them, using state-of-the-art smart glasses and speech and language technology. A key part of the research will be to assess from the ground up how all the content which goes to make up a theatre performance is complied, edited, communicated and maintained through the lifecycle of the production and how best to integrate that with the range of new immersive content which enables captions, translations, sign language and audio description to be delivered. A key aim is to ensure that the results of the learning and development will be the ability to share the new techniques with other theatres in the West End, in the UK regions, and elsewhere in the world. This key enabling technology will open theatre doors to new audiences, making theatre more inclusive and accessible to a far wider range of people. In streamlining the production process through new technology, we aim to extend audience reach rather than to sacrifice existing jobs. Our aim is to enable and encourage production teams to open up new areas of creativity by being able to reach a wider range of patrons in different ways, and to be alive to future developments in immersive technology which can further extend or enhance the proposition. The significant investment already made by the National Theatre in the development of technology which enables access content to be synchronised automatically to a production as delivered has laid a generic foundation on which additional immersive provision can be built. This project builds on that foundation by researching the new knowledge and techniques required successfully to extend the range of immersive content to reach all those who can make use of it in a truly inclusive way."