Alice Dali MR: A Mixed Reality Interactive Narrative Experience

Abstract

This late breaking work paper presents Alice Dali Mixed Reality (MR), a cutting-edge, first-ever concept of an interactive experience using music, art and narrative in a new and interactive fashion for individual use and as a live performance. We approach the project like a surrealist painting: an experience that resides halfway between the visible and the invisible. MR technology is uniquely suited for this purpose because it positions the audience not within a virtual world (like VR technology does) but in a liminal space that blends the real with the un-real, the conscious with the unconscious, the physical world with the world of dreams. We performed three interactive Alice Dali MR scenes for the Meta Quest Pro headset, projected to the screen for audience view in a live performance. The original mixed reality audio-visual experience and interaction in the MR app involves orchestration of original piano tracks, activated by the magic conductor’s wand when touching one of the rivers in Chapter 2 “Pool of Tears,” by petting animals in Chapter 11 “Who Stole the tarts?” and growing roses in Chapter 12 “Alice’s Evidence.” We present our motivation for the work, the overall experience design and brief reflections on future work, including usage areas such as family entertainment, intergenerational play, the music industry in the genre of concert with visuals, and music art therapy in rehabilitation programs.