Introduction

What questions did you have at the start of this project?
How can we open up the theatre to the audience and give an insight behind the scenes without having to enter the building in a both educational and artistic way?
Can we use an app to bring the creation of a play closer to the audience?
Is it possible to present all the trades digitally and make them tangible?
How to create a theatrical experience in a city area?

What technology was the focus of the work, and why?
In order to open the theatre digitally from the outside, a solution had to be found that could be used by an audience of around 400 people at the same time without great effort. It was therefore decided to rely on augmented reality, which can be easily implemented on a smartphone using an app.

To ensure that the outdoor experience was not limited to a single point, several points in the city were defined that could be explored using geo-tagging. In addition, the solution had to be sustainable so that it could still be used in the future.

What did you hope to explore in terms of technology, form, and content?
We wanted to create an app or a web-based solution that we could expand as required, especially with regard to creative content.

Creative Process

How did the collaborators work together on this project?
The framework and ideas for the content and the form came from the theatre and the digital artists in close cooperation. This took place in personal discussions, meetings and test runs.

What forms of trial and error occurred?
The app solution soon turned out to be too cost-intensive and could not be implemented due to data protection concerns regarding our young audiences.

The geo-tagging for the respective stations within the old town in particular was often a trial-and-error process.

Did you use existing software?
For the map used in the game to navigate to the different locations and the basis tool, we used 8th Wall by Niantic.

Did any of your questions or goals change, over the course of this project?
Definitely. Switching from the app to a web-based solution was the biggest change. There were also changes to the content that had to do with the scope of the original idea.

What were the key milestones in the development of the production?
The decision in favour of the web-based solution and the first stable test runs.

Reflections

What was the final outcome of the project, and how does it compare to any expectations at the start?
The end result was a (more or less) stable online game that up to 200 people could play at the same time. The augmented reality elements ran smoothly and provided a nice insight into the creation of a stageplay. We were able to reach the target audience very well with the game on the smartphone.

In what ways was the production a success?
The greatest success lay in its playability across different operating systems and smartphone-types. The barrier of entry was especially low, as there is no need to download an app, since the project is webhosted.

What elements of the final production would you change?
The usability which could be slightly more intuitive – especially in the onboarding-phase.

If other people were to take a similar approach, what advice would you give?
Decide early on whether the game should be app or web-based. This decision has great implications on what sort of interactions are possible. Then it would be good to work specifically on the respective stations for geo-tagging to ensure that the tracking quality is sufficient. Additionally, testing the prototype on a regular basis with a variety of people with different technology-savvy backgrounds is highly beneficial.