Bitter Wind:  Adapting Greek Tragedy for Spatial Computing

1. Abstract

This presentation will report on the completed research project Bitter Wind, my adaptation of an ancient Greek tragedy for Microsoft’s spatial computing HoloLens headset. The presentation will demonstrate how emerging embodied technologies like spatial computing (1) offer new possibilities for qualitative interpretation and (2) promote greater theatre studies engagement with digital humanities. In addition to outlining Bitter Wind’s technological elements, the presentation will explain how I integrated the affordances of spatial computing with theories of audience participation to mount a new dramaturgical and historiographic analysis of a canonical source. This presentation will also argue that a stronger theatre studies presence in DH has become urgent, as DH inquiry begins to expand from two-dimensional screens to the immersive, 360° environment created by embodied technologies like augmented/mixed/virtual reality, wearables, and the Internet of Things.