Presentation at the Mixed Realities Lab. which then was at Nanyang Technology University.

1. Mixing Realities
Ben Salem

2. Overview
• How did theatre become successful at
creating a reality
★ Plot, Characters, Performance, empathy and
involvement
★ A case study:
Improvisational theatre “Commedia dell’Arte”
(C) By Ben Salem, 2005

3. Reality?
• Reality is an illusion of the world that
surrounds us that is rendered by our
senses
(C) By Ben Salem, 2005

4. How sensitive are we?
• Seeing
•Rods and cones can produce a detectable electrical response to a single photon
• Hearing
•In the inner-ear the hydrogen. membrane can move to a distance smaller than the diameter
of a single atom of
tympanic
• Tasting
•The perception of taste involve a combination of: “(1) direct chemical stimulation of taste buds,
(2) stimulation of olfactory receptors by vapours from foods, (3) stimulation of chemical
sensitive and somato-sensory free nerve endings.” analyse
Nolte (2002) The Human Brain: An Introduction to its Functional Anatomy
(C) By Ben Salem, 2005

5. So what about
realism?
• Level of realism?
• Is it attainable?
• Desirable?
(C) By Ben Salem, 2005

6. Possible but...
(C) By Ben Salem, 2005 Counting the sand grains syndrome!

7. Better look at well
used tricks!
(C) By Ben Salem, 2005

8. Improvisational
theatre
• More than a performance or a story
• it is an experience the audience enjoys
having!
• Minimal set and costumes
(C) By Ben Salem, 2005

9. Modern Mime
• Pantomime
•a dramatic entertainment, originating in Roman mime, in which
performers express meaning through gestures accompanied by music.
•• an absurdly exaggerated piece of behaviour : he made a pantomime of checking his
watch.
•• informal a ridiculous or confused situation or event : the drive to town was a
pantomime.
(C) By Ben Salem, 2005

10. CdA
•CdA comes from middle 16th century Italy and is at the origin of modern
mime theatre.
•CdA isperform continuously renewed where a play is loosely outlined and the
actors
essentially improvised theatre,
and changed acts on their own
initiative, while at the same time reacting to the audience.
Salem (2005) Commedia Virtuale: from theatre to avatars, Digital Creativity, Vol. 16, No. 3.
(C) By Ben Salem, 2005

11. Commedia dell’Arte
•A stock of characters for all situations and for all conditions
•Comprehensive repertoire of archetypical personalities (the
shy, the crooks, the clumsy...)
•A reflection of own experience for everyone
• Easy to identify with some of the characters
•Social and moralexaggeration, or ridicule to expose, describe and
satire
•
Humour, irony,
criticise
(C) By Ben Salem, 2005

12. Commedia dell’Arte
• The strength of CdA comes from:
• Caricatured characters (both in behaviour and
appearance) that represent the archetypical social
personalities
• A narrative that is clear, unambiguous and rather
grossly exaggerated
• A plot that involve some breaking of social, ethical, or
moral rules.
(C) By Ben Salem, 2005

13. (C) By Ben Salem, 2005

14. (C) By Ben Salem, 2005

15. Plot
Salem & Rauterberg (2005 ) Power Death and Love: A `Trilogy for entertainment, Proc. ICEC 2005
(C) By Ben Salem, 2005

16. Characters
• All the key emotions are rendered
• Different intensities and in various combinations
• Anger, Disgust, fear, happiness and sadness
Luan Phan et al., (2002) Functional Neuroanatomy of emotions. NeuroImages.
(C) By Ben Salem, 2005

17. Performance
• Discourse
• Visual Appearance
• Body language and gestures
(C) By Ben Salem, 2005

18. Empathy
• Reflection of personal experience
• Course of events that is blatantly inviting
for your reaction
• Relates to everyday life
(C) By Ben Salem, 2005

19. Involvement
• Audience directly invited to intervene in
the plot
• Body language demanding your
participation
• Plot with gaps for the audience to fill
(C) By Ben Salem, 2005

20. Conclusion I
• Successful in 2 realities mixed up.
★ The play and the audience are intermingled.
★ Spectators become actors, and vice-versa
• All have a say in the course of events
(C) By Ben Salem, 2005

21. Conclusion II
• Why Mixing realities?
★ We are interested in the concept of Kansei media.
(C) By Ben Salem, 2005

22. (C) By Ben Salem, 2005