Virtual Vaudeville

The National Science Foundation has funded a 3 year development project, A Live Performance Simulation System: Virtual Vaudeville, to develop a computer system to provide a virtual reality simulation of a vaudeville performance in the 1890’s. The project, envisioned by Dr. David Saltz, Drama Department, University of Georgia, is being developed by a team from many institutions, including the University of Georgia, the Interactive Media Technology Center at Georgia Tech, the College of Charleston,  the University of Pittsburgh, the Naval Postgraduate School, Appalachian State University, the Metropolitan State College of Denver, the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, along with consultants from the National Tele-immersion Initiative, the University of Maryland at College Park, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Studio Z.
 
The project will develop a framework and toolkit for simulating various types of cultural performances using motion capture, 3D animation, virtual reality, and autonomous agents. To show the power of this technology, the team will simulate several acts from a vaudeville performance in 1890’s New York City, including dance, theatre, comedy, and strongman performances. To make the environment realistic to the end user, advanced AI techniques and autonomous agents will be used to power interactions with the user. In addition, a deep hypermedia engine will provide historical facts, documents, and primary sources to provide research materials for viewers.
 
Future phases of the project plan to develop authoring tools for creating additional performances as well as studying the societal impacts of Vaudeville on American cultural development.
 
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant No. 121764. Additional funding is provided from the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) and the University System of Georgia (USG).