Shakespeare Comes to Life in Augmented Reality at the London Book Fair
Published: April 6, 2016
Digital “resurrection” of William Shakespeare using Augmented Reality technology developed by INDE marks the 400th anniversary of the playwright’s death.
Visitors of the 2016 London Book Fair, April 12-14, will be given the opportunity to travel time and immerse themselves in Shakespeare’s fascinating world through two highly immersive Augmented Reality experiences, including a Shakespeare “hologram”, developed by INDE. The experience will debut at the London Book Fair, the global marketplace covering all aspects of the publishing industry, as highlights of the Shakespeare Showcase stand located near the Poetry Pavilion.
The Shakespeare character brought to life by INDE in Augmented Reality, via live motion and speech control
INDE’s LiveAvatar system will get visitors up-close and personal with the life-sized 3D version of Shakespeare. The main feature making this large-screen Augmented Reality setup special is live interaction between visitors and the Shakespeare character. The “wow” effect will be delivered by a professional actor performing behind the scene, wearing a motion tracking suit and a microphone, carefully watching and listening to participants’ reactions to make the experience fully interactive. As a result, Book Fair visitors standing in front of the screen will be able to see themselves and interact with Shakespeare beamed beside them in real time.
Once they have met with the Bard, people will get the unique chance to become participants of one of Shakespeare’s iconic scenes with HeroMirror, INDE’s Augmented Reality photo booth. People standing in front will instantly find themselves surrounded by Romeo and Juliet, meet Hamlet and other characters they would normally never be able to get so incredibly close to. To enhance the Shakespeare HeroMirror experience, INDE has made it possible for lucky time-travellers to capture the moment and pose for a photo with Shakespeare’s world famous characters at the end of each scene, then have the images printed or get an electronic copy online.
Romeo and Juliet in Augmented Reality from INDE's HeroMirror.
INDE, creator of the Shakespeare Augmented Reality experiences, has already put life-sized digital dinosaurs and jaguars into museums, zoos and shopping centres and beamed an alien avatar into several event spaces worldwide. Alex Poulson, the company’s CEO said: “Bringing back Shakespeare has been a life-long dream for both myself and our team at INDE. To bring back such a critically acclaimed hero for the first time will give users a totally unique opportunity to meet the Bard in the flesh and ask the questions they always wanted to ask!”.