Disembodied Performance: Abstraction of Representation in Live Theater

158 Pages·2009·4.77 MB·English

by  Peter Torpey

D IS E MB OD IE D P E R FO R M A NC E
Abstraction of Representation in Live Theater

PETER ALEXANDER TORPEY
Bachelor of the Arts in Media Arts
University of Arizona, 2003

Submitted to the Program in Media Arts and Sciences,
School of Architecture and Planning,
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Science in Media Arts and Sciences at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
September 2009

© 2009 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. All rights reserved.

Author: PETER ALEXANDER TORPEY
Program in Media Arts and Sciences
7 August 2009

Certified by: TOD MACHOVER
Professor of Music and Media
Program in Media Arts and Sciences
Thesis Supervisor
Accepted by: DEB ROY
Chair, Academic Program in Media Arts and Sciences
D IS E MB OD IE D P E R FO R M A NC E
Abstraction of Representation in Live Theater
PETER ALEXANDER TORPEY
Submitted to the Program in Media Arts and Sciences,
School of Architecture and Planning,
on 7 August 2009, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Science in Media Arts and Sciences at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

A B S T R AC T
Early in Tod Machover’s opera Death and the Powers, the main character,
Simon Powers, is subsumed into a technological environment of his own
creation. The theatrical set comes alive in the form of robotic, visual, and
sonic elements that allow the actor to extend his range and influence across
the stage in unique and dynamic ways. The environment must
compellingly assume the behavior and expression of the absent Simon.
This thesis presents a new approach called Disembodied Performance that
adapts ideas from affective psychology, cognitive science, and the theatrical
tradition to create a framework for thinking about the translation of stage
presence. An implementation of a system informed by this methodology is
demonstrated. In order to distill the essence of this character, we recover
performance parameters in real-time from physiological sensors, voice, and
vision systems. This system allows the offstage actor to express emotion and
interact with others onstage. The Disembodied Performance approach takes
a new direction in augmented performance by employing a non-
representational abstraction of a human presence that fully translates a
character into an environment. The technique and theory presented also
have broad-reaching applications outside of theater for personal expression,
telepresence, and storytelling.

Thesis Supervisor: TOD MACHOVER
Professor of Music and Media
Program in Media Arts and Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
D IS E MB OD IE D P E R FO R M A NC E
Abstraction of Representation in Live Theater
PETER ALEXANDER TORPEY

The following person served as a reader for this thesis:
Thesis Reader DAVID SMALL
Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences
Program in Media Arts and Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
D IS E MB OD IE D P E R FO R M A NC E
Abstraction of Representation in Live Theater
PETER ALEXANDER TORPEY

The following person served as a reader for this thesis:
Thesis Reader WHITMAN A. RICHARDS
Professor
Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
D IS E MB OD IE D P E R FO R M A NC E
Abstraction of Representation in Live Theater
PETER ALEXANDER TORPEY

The following person served as a reader for this thesis:
Thesis Reader ALEX MCDOWELL, RDI
Production Designer
DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc.