Demo Hour

DEMO HOUR:Robot Improv Puppet Theatre

Robot Improv Puppet Theatre [RIPT] is an improvised theater experience centered around an Arduino Braccio robot, Pokey. Pokey performs gestures and dialogue in short-form improv scenes based on audience input from a mobile device. The robot's performance is based entirely on audience participation, providing audience members an opportunity to see and hear their suggestions performed mid-scene. During a performance, a chosen audience member presses a GO button to randomly select and play back an entry. The human performers, acting alongside Pokey using full-body gestures, must then creatively interpret the robot's dialogue and actions to construct new storylines.

Wun, T., Mikalauskas, C., Ta, K., Horacsek, J., and Oehlberg, L. RIPT: Improvising with an audience-sourced performance robot. Proc. of the 2018 ACM Conference Companion Publication on Designing Interactive Systems. ACM, New York, 2018, 323–326; https://doi.org/10.1145/3197391.3205397

Mikalauskas, C., Wun, T., Ta, K., Horacsek, J., and Oehlberg, L. Improvising with an audience-controlled robot performer. Proc. of the 2018 Designing Interactive Systems Conference. ACM, New York, 2018, 657–666; https://doi.org/10.1145/3196709.3196757

https://cmikalauskas.com/portfolio/performing-with-an-improv-robot/

Tiffany Wun, Claire Mikalauskas, Kevin Ta, Joshua Horacsek, and Lora Oehlberg, University of Calgary
[email protected]

Audience member submitting dialogue and selecting a gesture for Pokey before a show.