MDT to Second Life and Back

The installation MDT to Second Life and Back is based on an event happening simultaneously at The Office (92,59,30) in Second Life and at the School of Architecture in Stockholm. The project aims to explore the borders between Second Life and First Life.

A performance with eight dancing avatars takes place at an interactive stage at The Office in Second Life. The appearance of the stage changes as a virtual audience activate scripted seats. Every seat initiates a different action that transforms the set design.

The dance performance in Second Life is projected in a three dimensional installation at the Royal School of Architecture in Stockholm. As a result, the anonymous audience in Second Life is not only changing the stage in the virtual world, but also transforming the physical space in Stockholm.

The installation in Stockholm consists of four screens and projections replicating the stage in Second Life. The audience is able to move through the installation and get the sensation of being on stage with the dancing avatars. Since the installation in Stockholm is video streamed back into Second Life the virtual audience has the possibility to follow how their dance and their activities on the Second Life seating influence the audience in First Life.

The project started as an investigation of how Second Life could be used as a tool for producing dance performances in First Life. The double layered performance MDT to Second Life and Back took place at the School of Architecture in Stockholm Friday March 9th.

The stage in First Life

The stage consists of four screens with projections from all the four sides of the stage in Second Life. By different tests we found out that the minimum width for one projection was three meter. For projecting a three meter wide image the projector need to have a distance of six meters from the screen. That’s what defined the size of the stage (6x6 m). The 3x2.25 meter frames was built in 2”x2” timber and then covered with semi transparent fiber cloth so the picture could be seen from both sides. The screens were hanging from the ceiling and fixed to the floor. On top of each screen a projector was hanging, projecting the Second Life dance on the screen on the other side of the stage.
While people where moving on the stage, the screens captured their silhouettes next to the dancing avatars.