Interactive Theater “Romeo & Juliet in Hades”

Summary

ストーリーの中のインタラクティビティ

 サイバースペース映画の中で人間が自分の分身を使って演じることにより、その動作、会話、感情により、物語りが対話的に生成されるインタラクティブシアター研究。 

協力
中津 良平・ATR知能映像通信研究所

1.Introduction
I introduce you about consciousness computer research “play cinema” My background is film and video and interactive art. I think that the mechanism of consciousness becomes clear in human – computer interaction than human – human interaction. Machine becomes beautiful when it looks like human. When computer characters get human like consciousness, character likes living. Usually, Good characters live in mind of people like Disney characters. 

2.Empathy and Catharsis
In the Movie and Theater, most important factor is catharsis. Catharsis defined by Aristotle, is the soothing release of the emotion. Usually. technical people want realize cyber space. I think that if Cyber space have generates digital empathy and catharsis, it is very immersive experience. Also, understanding of human consciousness by computer. 

3.Theater and Film
Let’s think about the difference between theater and film.

a. Theater Does not Describe Theater is performance. It is not reading. It is the expression of action.

b. Theater does not express events as they occur in our life. On the other hand, film expresses events as they occur in our daily life.

c. Theater has consistency in its action, while storytelling has a episode-like structure. Film is a sequence of “episode”. Therefore it gives audience strong impression. On the other hand, theater can show each scene as a different one from our everyday life or even as an abstract one. 

4.Play cinema as a recreating ourselves
I want to make movies like dream. Also, We play by own self in the dream. Our “play cinema” is like real dream. In the dream, people play the main actor! We try to realize wet communication for two people with virtual actor in the cyberspace. This time, our story is Romeo & Juliet after their suicide. 

5.Avatar
People use avatar. Avatar is altar ego of people who play romeo & Juliet. Avatar is controlled by magnetic sensor. When people move, they generate sound as if avatars are really moving. 

6.Interactive story
In this play cinema, people play roles of Romeo & Juliet. Why we choose Romeo & Juliet? People want to become hero and heroin. when Romeo & Juliet communicate with autonomous characters depending on their feeling by gesture, speech with emotion, then make drama by real time. 
This is technology of Interactive story system. 

7.Consciousness Interaction
Let’s think about possibility of creating empathy with consciousness interaction in play cinema. When interaction technology is not working well, it generates very bad feeling. Interaction technology makes big change for audiences consciousness and empathy. 

8.How to realize Consciousness Interaction
Understanding model
Character understand human’s emotional intonation by neural network. The reaction of character to utterances of a participant is expressed though virtual actor’s speech and image of facial expression and gesture. 

9.Emotion model
I made a two-dimensional emotion model. X-axis shows how good or bad feeling is. Y-axis shows how strong or weak the feeling is. For example, when when virtual actor is positive, it’s a good feeling. Strong and good feeling makes joy. Bad and weak feeling makes sad.
This is technology of emotional recognition.
This is another character’s emotional behaiver. 

10.Understanding meaning
When Romeo & Juliet talk to the computer character, they understand meaning of taking and react talk to Romeo & Juliet. 
This is technology of voice recognition. 

11.Understanding Gesture
When Romeo & Juliet move and touch, character react them. For example, When Romeo try to kill character by cyber gun, virtual actor runs away. 
Another example, When Romeo hit angel, angel is surprise and said “auch! Romeo!” 

12.Future work
We try to research how to understanding unconsciousness interaction use story teller in the cyberspace. 


Award

1998第13回電気通信普及財団賞(テレコムシステム技術賞)受賞
内容「インタラクティブ映画システムのコンセプトと構成例」
電子情報通信学会論文誌D-II Vol.J81-D-II, No.5, p.944-953

Reference

英語論文  ZIP

日本語論文 ZIP

ムービー  MV

1998-Romeo_JulietInHades

1999-Transmediale99

招待出品
時間1999年2月
場所独 ベルリン Podewil
内容

国際ベルリン映画祭ニューメディア部門 “Transmediale ’99”

1999-Transmediale99