10021944Discovering the need for "liveness" in virtual and digital theatre experiencesClosedFeasibility StudiesISCFCopper Candle, a pioneering technology company for the virtual theatre and live events sector, working with expert support from Rose Bruford College, Golant Innovation and Playwerks are proposing a bold research experiment to understand the necessity of "liveness" for virtual performance which will attempt to measure an audience's engagement with live performers as digital avatars. When bringing entertainment to your home "live" production increases costs and reduces quality, the provocation of this research is, "is it worth it?". Working across several mediums such as motion capture, live streams, in-game, VR and AR, we intend to understand the necessity of liveness within the mediums so that we can create a "toolbox" for theatre and live events. It will establish best practices for live performance, to help producers decide when something should include the extra expense. With broadcast and transmission costs for NT Live being 73% (Nesta) of the costs for filming a live production, there is value to the theatre industry to understand an audience's desire for live performers. This is relevant if we want to benefit from the growing virtual, live performances in platforms such as Fortnight where Travis Scott reportedly made $20m for a 9-minute set, a 10 fold increase over a 2-hour physical concert. Our experiment will help to test the necessity of live performance in virtual experiences by comparing two identical productions, one performed live, the other pre-recorded. We will do this as part of a test of Copper Candle's award-winning and innovative new technology for streaming live motion capture data and lighting control data into Unreal Engine. It is our hope, that the live entertainment market can use this project as a benchmark for future events and experiences, using Copper Candles technology and research, that can be produced inside virtual products, with a clearer idea of what the benefit is for their projects by including live vs pre-recorded performance data. With the industry moving towards the production of virtual events, such as Abba's comeback, using pre-recorded motion capture and pre-animated moving lights, the potential for producers who have the right formula for liveness could greatly increase their revenues and profits. The discovery of how to apply liveness in this context is a huge innovation for the performance industry as it moves into the virtual world.