Projection-mapped Immersive Theater Shows the Future of Live AR Performances

There was an amazing projection-mapped, immersive theater piece at Sundance this year by Heartcorps called Riders of the Storyboard. Trained street performers interacted with virtual projection-mapped 2D objects, and through the sleight of hand magic broke these flat objects into the third as glowing 3D props.

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There were 15 people packed into a small room with about half a dozen performers for a 13-minute show about these 2D characters who interact with the performers who are playing Alchemy of Light gods in the third dimension. It was an awe-inspiring performance, and the projection mapping technology provided a shared experience akin to what future augmented reality technology could provide.

Heartcorps is proving out some of the techniques with projection mapping technology that should also work really well in the future of live performance and immersive theater designed for AR glasses.

I had a chance to catch up with the Heartcorps member and performer dandypunk, who talks about their process, ritual inspiration, and mixture of immersive theater and cutting-edge projection mapping. Be sure to check out the trailer and clips from their show at Sundance down below.

Here’s the Trailer for the Heartcorps Riders of the Storyboard piece that showed at Sundance New Frontier:

Final three minutes of the Riders of the Storyboard show at Sundance:

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Music: Fatality & Summer Trip