spaceDisplaced: Investigating Presence Through Mediated Participatory Environments

Abstract

spaceDisplaced: Investigating Presence Through Mediated Participatory Environments is an interdisciplinary telepresence performance that linked four physical spaces. We conducted a participatory telepresence performance to explore how the experience of presence in separate spaces is influenced by the scale, function, sonic potential and accessibility of the space that each performer inhabits. The performance served as a form of experience modeling, a design methodology put forth by Schiphorst and Andersen (2004) that uses somatic, theater, and dance practices to model and structure experiences that can inform interaction design. In this paper we describe our exploration of personal, social and environmental forms of presence in the performance. We demonstrate how our findings led to new insights on how to stage the experience of presence. We apply these findings in Presence in a Box: Crossing Liminal Spaces, an interactive public performance where participants can transfer the experience of presence between small and large spaces.