Play the Knave

Gina Bloom
English
UC Davis

Participants

“Play the Knave,” a kinect-enabled platform for mediated theatrical performance allowed game’s users to customize a production of a scene from a Shakespearean play, choosing set design, music, lighting, costumes, as well as the theater space. Participants then performed the scene, karaoke-style, using their own bodily gestures and voices to animate their on-screen avatars. The Kinect camera picked up skeletal data from users, mapping it onto the 3D avatar on screen, so that the avatar mirrored each user’s gestures in real time. The gameplay session was recorded, allowing players to share or edit their recordings, and allowed researchers further analysis on their gameplay.