New York, NY, Nov. 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Startups and creative technologists will showcase their solutions with applications in the arts at the women-driven Science in Theatre Festival in New York on November 12-14. The event, which partners award-winning playwrights with established researchers to produce experimental science-themed plays, will take place at Nancy Manocherian's the cell theatre.
As part of the festival’s mission to bridge the gaps between art, startups, and the general public, audiences will have the chance to try out new tech products before the performances kick off.
“Every year, tech companies look for novel, innovative ways to showcase their products, to wow consumers and make an impression on the media,” said Tjasa Ferme, festival organizer and director of Transforma Theatre. “Theatre is one of the best ways to actually let people experience technology firsthand.”
The festival’s Day Program includes BrainBit, BrainRap, Callibri, Decision Tree, Double Take Labs, Limbic Lab, Nexvox, and WearWorks.
BrainBit, a smart EEG headband monitoring brain activity, to help artists understand what happens during the creative process, follow audiences’ reactions, and see how their brains respond to certain stimuli during live performances in real time;
BrainRap, an EEG-enabled headband and platform designed to help all musicians, and particularly rap artists, “translate” songs directly from thought to screen by thinking lyrics and watching them appear as text;
Limbic Lab, an open source biometric lab, will measure how the festival participants’ brains and bodies unconsciously respond to media stimuli and demonstrate how these data could determine the specific narrative ingredients that inspire empathy and incline viewers towards a sense of justice;
NEXVOX, an interactive AI-powered brainwave sonification experience that translates brain waves into a personal soundtrack, a true fusion of music therapy, real-time neurofeedback, and meditation;
An experience design studio, Double Take Labs, will present an industrial robot arm aiming to join a human circus; a DVD player looking to start a fight with an internet router; and a printer turned artist who now exercises their right to rebel against instruction.
“Stories have the potential to be fully immersive experiences, but most of the time people can only watch and listen from the sidelines,” said Josh Corn, co-founder of Double Take Labs. “What sorts of amazing things can happen when we’re allowed direct access to a fantasy world, to engage with actors and actually make decisions that influence the storyline, to choose our own adventure? We believe that there are imaginative ways to integrate creative technology into productions that can let audiences interact with stories, without breaking character or having obtrusively high-tech interventions break the fourth wall.”
After the Day Program, audiences will have the opportunity to see three original plays, each an interdisciplinary collaboration between playwrights and scientists. Last-minute tickets are available here.
About Transforma Theatre:
Transforma Theatre is pioneering a new form of theatrical expression and developing a close community of artists and scientists instilled with the freedom of thinking and creating in alternative ways.