Haptic Enhancements to Live Theatre and Virtual Production Environments

Project partners: Abertay University, Scottish Youth Theatre

XR Network has awarded funding to a collaboration between Abertay University and Scottish Youth Theatre (SYT) that will blend traditional theatre with a transmedia sensory experience for audiences using virtual production (VP) technologies. 

VP and live theatre experiences often face the limitation of users being unable to feel virtual objects within the scene. Haptic suits like Teslasuits address this issue by delivering tactile feedback across the user’s body. Despite their potential, haptic devices have not yet been widely used in VP and live theatre performances to enhance actor and audience immersion. 

The collaboration will use Abertay University’s Teslasuits, virtual production and motion capture facilities to develop a unique haptic-suit experience designed and crafted for a short, well-known theatre scene. 

SYT will produce, direct and enact the chosen scene which will be created in a real-world environment where a theatrical director will set up the stage. This stage will then be re-created in Unreal Engine, where actors and their actions will be tracked. 

Teslasuits provide physiological data, including ECG, posture recognition, BPM, and Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) which offer deeper insights into the wearer’s emotions. Analysis of this data will give the project team deeper insight into the emotions of an audience at varied time points.

In 2027, SYT plans to deliver a hybrid live-action/digital performance in partnership with Abertay and Co-Star involving up to 20 young performers and theatre-makers in different locations throughout Scotland. By pilot testing the use of haptic suits in a short scene, the collaboration will explore the potential of integrating haptic experience into live action events. 

The project is one of four initiatives supported by the XR Network+ Prototyping, Impact and Acceleration (PIA) round two funding call, with grants of up to £10,000 awarded to researchers at UK universities to develop new ideas and complete existing research related to VP. 

Image credit to Abertay University.

Categories: Arts, Performance, Research, Technology