Naomi Smyth

In the Summer of 2021, performance artist Naomi Smyth submitted a proposal to OnBoardXR: Below Deck to bring her immersive theater practice into XR with no coding or 3D graphics experience. Naomi proposed exploring her training and background in a solo form of improvisation, called Fooling, where the actor co-creates an original performance with the audience at random by switching between a variety of characters.

WHO AM I? WHERE AM I?

OnBoardXR offered soft support to help Naomi create a virtual twin of her real-life home office, a small caravan in a field that served as her “stage” while she rotated between a variety of customized avatars she created using Quilt.

Her performance for OnBoardXR: Below Deck began by setting a timer for ten minutes and inviting the audience into her virtual caravan to see what story unfolded through dramatic improvisation. Given limitations to the cue system, the avatar links were “pinned” inside her caravan so she could easily click to change her performer avatar. An unexpected flaw in this workflow was that the audience members quickly learned and delighted at the ability to also click these links and transform into Naomi’s many character options – the show unexpectedly became a parade of Naomis.

While unintended, this resulted in Naomi performing opposite alternate versions of herself and her characters within the same narrative - something that could only happen in the medium of virtual reality. She also interacted with her audience by prompting them to become the sound design of her piece, making sounds like wind, water and laughter to create the atmosphere of her story.

DEPTHS AND SHALLOWS

Naomi returned for OnBoardXR: Mythos and Monsters with the intention to expand and stabilize Who Am I? Where Am I?, this time working with community designer Anais Ron to capture 3D photogrammetry of her real-world environments (like the caravan) and place them in virtual reality. Michael Morran’s updates the cueing system allowed Naomi to have exclusive access to her avatar changes and trigger pre-recorded sound effects for elements the audience previously generated.

Her participation in OnBoardXR: Mythos and Monsters automatically offered inclusion in FIVARS 2021 Fall Festival and nominations for awards from The Polys and No Proscenium.

MINDLAND

Naomi received funding from Arts Council England to develop her short-form prototypes with OnBoardXR into a full format, standalone show, called MindLand. OnBoardXR provided server space, codebase support and Naomi chose to hire several of our community members and compensate their contributions toward the expansion of her show. MindLand allowed for 5 embodied participants, 10 ghost spectators and unlimited livestream viewers to attend via direct ticket purchase or the FIVARS Spring 2022 Festival.

Our work with Naomi Smyth illustrates the spirit of the OnBoardXR community to empower an artist to build and monetize their first prototype in virtual reality and within six months leverage those learnings into opportunity and funding beyond our support. Naomi was the beneficiary of the knowledge and experience of our community members while her own experiences returned insight into the grant-application and production process that other artists face when they leave our sandbox. MindLand was our first experience transitioning from mentor to vendor, helping us identify how to better productize and quantify our support for future “mainstage” productions.

The Constellation Project

Mindland was invited and included in the “OnBoardXR presents..." Charting The Stars season for Active Replica’s Constellation Project.