THE 4D BOX

Magica Machina’s performances are done in the so-called 4D Art Box which form the basis of our digital performance development opportunities. The 4D Art Box combines a list of technologies that can be put together in different ways. Basically, the box consists of three technologies:

  1. A PEPPERS GHOST SETUP

  2. A COMPUTER-DESIGNED PROJECTION (CALLED STEREOGRAPHIC VIDEO PROJECTION)

  3. TRACKING

1. A PEPPERS GHOST SETUP

The Peppers Ghost setup is a reflex foil, the so-called Eyeliner, a transparent plastic foil positioned in a 45-degree angle in front of the stage (see the illustration ). A computer-designed form/projection is projected on the floor in front of the stage. The form is then reflected in the plastic foil, resulting in the illusion of the computer-designed form standing in mid air on the stage. This technique is called a Peppers Ghost Setup and has been used since the 19th century.

3. TRACKING

The holographic projection can be tracked to a performer that is to say, that when the performer moves, the holographic projection moves as well or changes form. In this way, the performer can interact with the stereographic projection on stage in real time. However, this accounts for several medias: The stereographic projection can be tracked not only to the performer but also to sound, lightning etc.

The 4D Art Box has enormous potential in developing new digital stage performances. The box is unique because of its way of changing fundamental rules of the theatre stage; the stereographic projection can act as scenography, costume, objects, performers etc., allowing for new dramaturgical, visual and interactive takes to be executed. Technology is transformed from an aesthetic instrument to an active co-performer on stage – a development that re-defines its role and that of the human performer as well, creating new concepts of what stage art is and can be.

2. A COMPUTER-DESIGNED PROJECTION

The computer-designed form - or projection - is a moving animation. It can be designed and programmed as any imaginable form or expression, from specific to abstract forms. It is made with 3D-technique (thus titled “stereographic video projection” – the name of the technique behind 3D), which is why the audience will have to wear 3D glasses.

When the Peppers Ghost Setup and the stereographic projection are combined, they create the illusion of a “holographic projection” floating in free air on the stage.