02/04/2018

Visgraf presents The Tempest at the Rio2C conference.

Cinema, theater, virtual reality, and gaming technology all in one experiment. Based on “The Tempest”, a play by William Shakespeare written about 400 years ago, has a narrative developed by researchers at Visgraf – the Computer Graphics Laboratory of the Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics (IMPA) – that is groundbreaking.

In the Visgraf version, which has been investigating mathematical and computational models for application in new media since 1989, actors, using virtual reality and motion capture equipment, perform in virtual and three-dimensional scenarios.

After two sessions at IMPA , followed by discussions and presented to audiences comprised of members from the fields of film, theater, and computer graphics, the researchers modified the original format of the experiment and will present it to an even wider audience.

The result can be seen this Thursday (5), from 9 am to 6 pm, at the Rio Creative Conference ( Rio2C ), at Cidade das Artes, Barra da Tijuca, west zone of Rio. The international event will bring together leading names in the creative industry to discuss music, innovation and audiovisual, such as Chance Gasco, co-founder of the “Call of Duty” franchise; Cort Lane, from Marvel; and Bruce Miller, producer of “The Handmaid’s Tale”.

Luiz Velho no processo de produção do avatar da atriz Helena Varvaki

“The Tempest” is part of the XR Arcade program, one of the main attractions of Rio2C, which combines innovation and audiovisual productions with virtual reality in different formats – games, documentaries, fiction, and two- and three-dimensional animations. The screenings will take place in domes spread across a large area on the ground floor and first floor of Cidade das Artes.

Os atores usam óculos de realidade virtual e marcadores de captura de movimento

Using virtual reality equipment, the audience will be able to watch a performance of "The Tempest," staged and recorded in January 2018, in a 360-degree cinematic experience.

Also on Thursday, from 12:00 PM to 12:45 PM, Luiz Velho will participate in the panel “VR and AR – possible futures” , with Kari Pulli, CTO of the augmented reality headset manufacturer Metavision, and Luiz Alberto Oliveira, curator of the Museum of Tomorrow.