Composing an Interactive Virtual Opera: The Virtualis Project

Abstract

Designing the computer-based interactive opera Virtualis has led the authors to develop new tools for working with music, especially in three-dimensional spaces designed for representing and manipulating it, as well as an interaction model based on physical forces rather than on the user's intentions. Although opera and computing are two dissimilar interactive situations, the software environment presented in this article is intended (1) to combine them through the generalization of certain operatic functional relationships and (2) to offset the relative absence of the spectator from the classical performance of drama.

What are Virtual Operas?

We define as virtual an opera not intended to be performed on a stage, but "running" on a personal computer [1,2], enabling some interactivity with its spectator. This new genre is not based on the simple transfer of existing operas into the framework of new computing technologies; it takes into account the shifting uses and meanings induced by multimedia computing, assuming these uses and meanings could arouse new writings in many fields, including opera [3]. We have been working on an interactive opera project, Virtualis, the purpose of which is neither the reconstruction of a physical opera hall nor the re-creation of an opera piece from the past. It is an original creation using new technologies, but above all including original models of interaction; thus it is not merely a sophisticated multimedia application [4].

Interactive operas fall within the category of a large evolution of different artistic genres owing their existence to multimedia computing. Hypertext literature, interactive comic strips, and interactive musical games (such as the CD-ROMs Eva by Peter Gabriel and Puppet Motel by Laurie Anderson) are good examples of this revival. Moreover, Virtualis is not the first work in its genre:

• • In 1996, Tod Machover [5], at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Laboratory, designed a digital opera entitled The Brain Opera, allowing members of the audience either present during the performance or connected through the Internet to interact by contributing to the music.

• • Jean-Pierre Balpe, at the Université de Paris VIII, Paris, France, created a digital opera named Blue-Beard in 1999, enabling the generation of variations on the plot of the famous story inspired by Perrault's tale.

Opera and Interaction

If we compare the individual interaction that occurs in opera halls between the spectator and the stage with that lived by someone facing his or her computer, we can observe sharp differences between the two situations.

During opera performances, the spectator is subjected to a continuous composite flow [6] from the stage and the hall: sounds coming from the orchestra, the choir and the singers but reflected onto the walls before reaching his/her ears, images and lights coming from the stage, overhead subtitles, etc. Facing this flow, the spectator is absent from the stage, but

Fig. 1.

The same musical line (piano) represented as a corridor seen from outside (a) and inside (b). (© Alain Bonardi and Francis Rousseaux)

Fig. 1.

The same musical line (piano) represented as a corridor seen from outside (a) and inside (b). (© Alain Bonardi and Francis Rousseaux)

Fig. 2.

A comparison of two levels of representation of the same entity: note level (a, left) and slur level (b, right). (© Alain Bonardi and Francis Rousseaux)

Fig. 2.

A comparison of two levels of representation of the same entity: note level (a, left) and slur level (b, right). (© Alain Bonardi and Francis Rousseaux)

feels drawn in from time to time when sudden consciousness of some fact, which we could term a singularity, bursts into his or her perception. Let us note that these singularities, as soon as they are detected, are no longer singularities; they are rather somehow added onto the representation of the knowledge representation of the ongoing opera. The irruption of singularities triggers various expressions, such as coughs, excessive silence, movements, etc., which are, in feedback, globally interpreted by musicians and singers...