My independent study for the second half of the past semester has been augmented stage craft. Using an infrared camera, a high-power projector and a custom app I’ve built using the fantastic openFrameworks I am creating an interactive scene of flora and fauna for the actors to become a part of.

Matt Gray and I have been working hard over the last few weeks to produce a scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream using this augmented stagecraft. It’s being edited together at the moment and will be up for public consumption as soon as possible!

It’s been much of a learning process for me. I’m doing my vision using the powerful IPP libraries which, if you’re a student, are quite affordable. I’ve probably learned more about lighting than software with this endeavor. Setting up good lighting is more important than writing good software, and when it comes to capturing from a live stage, that isn’t so easy.