Abstract
A live demonstration of an online telepresence video performance, allowing conference delegates, two at a time on separate computers, to interact and perform within the live-streamed video sequence. The telepresence video performance ‘The Importance of Sleep’ was developed by Hong Kong artist Jack Li, commissioned by Birds of Paradise Theatre Company (BOP) and Arts with the Disabled Association Hong Kong (ADAHK) for the British Council Hong Kong SPARK III Festival, 18th to 20th October 2024. The commission and collaboration with ADAHK resulted from BOP’s involvement in the AHRC research project ‘A Telepresence Stage for Disability Performing Arts’ (AH/Y004000/1) led by Paul Sermon at the University of Brighton, School of Art and Media.
‘The Importance of Sleep’ is a 7-minute experimental video performance with an opportunity for live audience participation via a computer webcam. The work explores how the human body prepares for a new day during sleep, based on the Chinese legend of Zhou Gong, the God of Dreams. The story depicts a character falling asleep after a long day, told through digital scenography with integrated Cantonese sign language and Cantonese/English audio description. Throughout the night, Zhou Gong cleans and repairs several organs in the body with the help of two online participants, who appear inside recreated organs, such as the liver and lungs, where they playfully improvise cleaning tasks. Previous recordings of the interactive performance can be seen here: https://locked-world.boptheatre.co.uk/artworks/the-importance-of-sleep/?tab=Artwork.
The online artwork utilises techniques in online video chat and streaming media, such as virtual backgrounds and networked video production, combined with virtual green-screen compositing and set design to superimpose and composite remote participants together. It was a significant technical challenge to put the participants inside the original video artwork, but with live video compositing software and Jack Li’s support, we reconstructed his video, layer by layer, as a unique interactive telepresence experience.
More info at http://www.telepresencestage.org.
‘The Importance of Sleep’ is a 7-minute experimental video performance with an opportunity for live audience participation via a computer webcam. The work explores how the human body prepares for a new day during sleep, based on the Chinese legend of Zhou Gong, the God of Dreams. The story depicts a character falling asleep after a long day, told through digital scenography with integrated Cantonese sign language and Cantonese/English audio description. Throughout the night, Zhou Gong cleans and repairs several organs in the body with the help of two online participants, who appear inside recreated organs, such as the liver and lungs, where they playfully improvise cleaning tasks. Previous recordings of the interactive performance can be seen here: https://locked-world.boptheatre.co.uk/artworks/the-importance-of-sleep/?tab=Artwork.
The online artwork utilises techniques in online video chat and streaming media, such as virtual backgrounds and networked video production, combined with virtual green-screen compositing and set design to superimpose and composite remote participants together. It was a significant technical challenge to put the participants inside the original video artwork, but with live video compositing software and Jack Li’s support, we reconstructed his video, layer by layer, as a unique interactive telepresence experience.
More info at http://www.telepresencestage.org.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Media of output | Online |
| Publication status | Published - 11 Sept 2025 |
| Event | Conference on Disability, Accessibility and Representation in the Creative Industries (DARCI) - University of York, York, United Kingdom Duration: 10 Sept 2025 → 12 Sept 2025 Conference number: 1 https://enhancingaudiodescription.com/darci-conference |
Keywords
- Telepresence
- Performace
- disability arts
- Inclusion
- Online
- Theatre