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Hello there

Apologies to this belated entry! I was pre-occupied by the Dance Theatre Summer School in Mind the Gap last week. I had actually tried hard to get my however small technical head working and had included the use of a bit of technology in the piece. We made a short film with the participants. We also made use of an interactive voting system for the audience to choose what should happen next. Manageably low-fi, but at least got the feel of including technology in our theatre performances.

Anyway. Last month has been like a roller coaster to me. At one point I thought we got a technology solution, but then we realized it wouldn’t work with our artistic plan. When we have the artistic plan in place, then we realized that the technology was missing… Yes, we do share the question: which comes first, theatre or technology?

Thanks to Katie, me and Jez had a fruitful afternoon with Jo. We got some hands on experience with an existing sonic game, using a PDA. I like this one stop device which gives out audio and visual. The positioning is done by built-in GPS. Everyone told me that GPS is not very unreliable, now I know actually how unreliable/reliable it is. Also, whether the Maze is indoor and outdoor is a dividing question. Technology involved will be very different, if not completely.

At that point, it is critical to go back to the artistic value/ idea. When I think of the context (where) of the Sonic Maze, I want it to be everywhere eventually! Meaning that people can have the on their own device, and play it anywhere they like. It can be in Bristol, Manchester, Bradford, Berlin, Hong Kong, Barcelona! They can generate an unique experience in the space that they have chosen, and also experience a special relationship with the space.

Another inspiring idea complimenting the above is from Prototype. Gillian and Rachael talked about people making connection with random objects, thinking that they were actually designed. I have always been into the idea of reclaiming the social/public space. One way of reclaiming it is to participate in the environment, and feel the ownership. This experience of the Fortnight is thought-provoking to me. The Sonic Maze deals with urban and possibly public spaces. It is desirable if the maze is designed to be flexible, could be used by the player anytime any where, facilitating connection between players and the environment that they’ve chosen.

Now going back to the indoor/outdoor question. If we keep it indoors, positioning may be a bit more precise, eg using RFID, QR code etc. However, it will not be portable. The space always has to be a pre-meditated/ manipulated performance space. Following this train of thoughts, I think I am very inclined to keep the maze outdoors.

Now that if we have chosen GPS, we have to learn to love it. I imagine it’s like marrying a decent guy with good prospects but his feet smell. GPS really is not precise. I tried a game on the PDA called “Time Hole”. In the game we placed spirits in different points of an open space. Then the game required us to go visit the spirits again. The problem is, the spirits drifted a lot. When I was asked to revisit them, it was a bit frustrating when the spirits were not where I had placed it. Also, the game required me to leave a fair bit of distance between spirits. Therefore when I was going round to visit different spirits, there was a lot of walking. (and then realized that the spirit had drifted elsewhere!).

By the time when I was about to give up, Jo turned up from where the fountain parts with a sunny smile as well as a couple more of those PDAs. She had very swiftly mashed up a sonic wall plus 3 sound spots from on the PDAs! Me and Jez tried it. What I like the most is, this achieved what we imagined for on-lookers: I walked and stopped suddenly, walked backwards and smiled to myself.

The maze has to be big, if the gap between walls is too narrow, when the GPS drifts, people may hear wall sounds going on and off even when they are just standing still. In that case, the maze itself cannot be over complicated. the maze has to be complicated enough to be fun, but it can’t be too difficult making it frustrating/disorientating. the balance is yet to be found. We need a lot of testing.

Thank you all very much for your generosity to share ideas and experiences. I feel I have missed out catching up and sharing with you guys, since me and Jez were working back in the PM Studio. Also feel a bit guilty for dashing off after getting all your good ideas and sharing without a chance to share ours… Tomorrow we are having a game development and testing day in Mind the Gap studios, mocking up different effects. Gotta sort out my Wizard of Oz costume now. Will keep you posted!