The fact that something appears in reality that doesn’t really exist there has held a great fascination for us since time immemorial. This is a perfect theme for the Berlin theatre company NICO AND THE NAVIGATORS, which has been working systematically with digital technologies and AR technology (augmented reality technology) for years, always taking it beyond the limits of the usual: In 2019, 26 augmented reality glasses were used in an artistic context for the first time as part of the digital lighthouse project “Betrayal of Images”. These experiences were continued in the project “You have to render your life!” (2022) with the newly developed AR Loopmachine.

The knowledge and possibilities thus acquired are to be passed on to young people and deepened in a workshop programme. 

For this purpose, the company developed a three-day augmented reality dance workshop for schools in 2022, which was offered at the beginning of the new school year for students aged 12 and older (from grade 7).

This workshop model, which can be booked by schools or other institutions, is at the interface between dance and digital processing and therefore appeals to both students who are enthusiastic about dance and participants who are more interested in technology and digital design. The aim of the workshop is to bring both groups together in a creative dialogue.

The students will have the opportunity to get to know AR glasses technology, which the company has been working with artistically for several years. In this context, they can both design and, together with dance and movement teacher Lilith Borchert, develop their own small AR choreography using the methods they have learned. The participants themselves decide whether this will be presented to an internal circle of friends.

Based on a loop station for live musicians, the AR loop machine enables the students in a simple way to fade in AR content for a larger number of people in real space. In this way, the relation between analogue reality and virtual extension is shifted.

The AR Loopmachine is to be further developed within the framework of educational and mediation formats in digital laboratories. Augmented reality glasses from the company Magic Leap will be available for all participants.

Do you have to render your life?