The installation

The installation took place in a huge underground parking. Normally two theatrical installations were placed at the two ends of the place. The fact that the theatrical season was ending because of the summer season; we had plenty of space to develop our performance installation.

Our concerns were related to three axes: 

1) The performers - audience to be as close as possible to the projection wall screen for stronger immersion. 

2) The audience perception of the installation to dent from cinematic perception. 

3) The enhancement of the sharing of resources, of communication, of collectivity and cooperation between the participants. 

For these reasons we built a square five meters type Π room inside this space. We use wooden panels, building the two walls, right and left of the projection screen wall. It was important to eliminate any reflections on the walls as a possible distraction factor for the audience. The two walls are covered with black fabric. The display covers the entire front wall with a special synthetic material for back projection. The projector is placed behind the screen wall, at a distance of ten meters. Two self- powered speakers are located behind the two wall surfaces. The computer is installed next to one of the speakers. Both speakers and commuter system were invisible to the audience. Inside the Π installation space where the interfaces- tools, pillows and some seats for the audience.

This space was defined with a transparent metal frame. Outside that element, there is a very large table and many chairs around it. It is a place that after the end of the performance the audience will be asked to answer a question.

The paddle was hanging from the ceiling with a climbing rope. That was far more creative in comparison to having the paddle placed in the ground or a stable surface. Soon I discovered that when the paddle was grab free, it would fall to the either of its sides, because of its non-balance. This would trigger in turn a continuous slow turbulence movement of the virtual space. So in the case that nobody would be paddling or when a performer would stop paddling in order to explore another action, the virtual world would continue to move, affected by the accidental paddle balance. The action would be connected to physical capacities and involve a high random factor.

The base of Razer hydra installed in front of the paddle, in a distance of eighty centimeters from the ground height. It was placed over a cylinder shape heavy object sufficiently close to the paddle that is wired with. The rope was useful for one more reason. It was keeping the performer to a place to maintain the distance paddle- razer hydra base steady, protecting their wiring system. If not, the system could stop working on the case that the performer moved the paddle away and unplugged the USB from the base. 

Next to the paddle we place a microphone in a stand. A performer could move the stand, close to his mouth, in order to paddling and at the same time controlling with his voice the rise or the balance in the falling environment. All this cable was covered with black tape in order to be steady, safe from being stepped on and invisible, so as for the scene to be clear and tide. 

 Oculus Rift was hanged with a rope from the ceiling. Performers could use it in combination with a microphone, but not with the paddle. The problem with Oculus rift DK1 was that the barrel optical distortion image was projected to the screen in a duplicate display mode. The duplicated displays were the projector and Oculus. The barrel image looks natural when seen through the Oculus distortion lens. While the immersed performer through Oculus could see a clear image, the audience and other performers were able to see a double barrel distortion image projected to the wall screen. These devised solutions were not led to a stable unity configuration. Fortunately, we had the idea of alternating the projected image from natural to double barrel distortion. This arrangement had the disadvantage that HMD wasn't functional during the entire duration of the performance. The advantage though, was considerable: 1) a communication factor for the Oculus Rift usage  2) natural projected image was more effective for immersion  3) one more interface (a wireless keyboard) was necessary for the transaction between the two modes. One more factor for collectivity, communication, and participation appears. 4) The number of the active participants rises to five. Oculus Cables were installed to the ceiling with black tape.