Frictional Realities

THE PIECE

Frictional Realities is a mixed-reality performance where two participants at a time will be guided alone but together, to explore an asymmetrical virtual-physical environment.

The project explores the concept of frictions in immersive environments, and its uses as part of an embodied mixed-reality performances. Frictions can be seen as sensorial, temporal or identity gaps that creates a mental dissonance in your subjective reality. A feeling of falling out of your immersion of the “real” reality to fall into the experience of your own body.

Mixed Reality Performance

is a new scenic art form which have started to take shape in the techno-scenic landscape. Technologies like Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AU), Haptic-suits, binaural 3D-sound microphones and more, have been developed enormously from a technological perspective. But have humanity had time to adapt and embody their experiences with these technological sensorial illusions as a natural part of the human reality? Could choreographic and scenic practices of physical presence, sensorial perception, immersion and living interactivity be used to connect and "humanify" the technological experiences? Frictional Realities focuses on the subjective somatic experience inside virtual environments to explore cyborgian practices of extending the notion of self to reformulate the experience of immersion. An immersion that is constantly deconstructed by the sensorial friction between the physical and the virtual. Which in the end affirms the immersion of reality it self. A feeling of falling into the experience/immersion of your own body in this present moment of time.

The premiere of the piece was on 19th of December 2019 at Weld in Stockholm. The piece has also been presented at Stockholm University for several years as part of the MA programs that work with VR.

With Support from

Stockholms Stad, Riksteatern, Region Stockholm, The Swedish Arts Grants Committeé and Weld.

Research

This project is studied by and developed together with Human-Computer Interaction researcher Asreen Rostami. The project is exploring Rostami's notion of Friction and it's possible applications on Mixed-Reality Performances, and primary for this project it's creative uses for interactive VR experiences. There are several layers of Friction that could be applied to an artistic experience. We focus currently on sensorial frictions in presence (e.g. a feeling of a table that is virtually larger than it's physical counterpart), temporal frictions (e.g. the feeling of a glitched time experience) and frictions of identity (e.g. a feeling of being/feeling/seeing multiple identities in one body).

Research papers:

Credits

Concept and Idea: Noah Hellwig & Asreen Rostami
Choreography, Text & Interactions: Noah Hellwig in close cooperation with Disa Krosness
Performance: Disa Krosness, Emelie Wahlman & Noah Hellwig
VR-design: Leo Låby & Erik Blåsjö (Pusslebit games)
Music: Miranda Abrahamsson
Artistic Consultation: Gabriel Widing
Light: Ronald Salas
Administration: Smart Produktionshus