What do you think of when you think about Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University? Tech, geniuses, prestige, Ivy league, mathematics, Good Will Hunting?
How about dance, choreography, performance art, theatre, cinema? Not so much? Well, we are always surprised with the ways our 3D volumetric displays are used. Whilst we were initially surprised when Harvard said they had been using their VX1 for teaching choreography over the last 12 months, we were even more surprised when MIT also purchased one for a cinematic collaboration with Harvard! It seems as though there’s very little in the way of limits when it comes 3D volumetric use cases.
Michael Bove, Principal Research Scientist and head of the Object-Based Media Group at the MIT Media Lab, and David Levine, Harvard University Professor of the Practice of Performance, Theater and Media, will collaborate on Volumetric Cinema, a project that explores and investigates the possibilities of 360-degree 3D holographic cinema.
In the first phase of the project in Spring (Northern hemisphere) 2019, Bove, Levine and MIT students will explore the possibilities of volumetric cinema through the production and development of a set of experimental films. In Summer and Autumn 2019, the project will culminate in the creation of a short film produced and screened on a Voxon VX1. Harvard’s. Essentially MIT and Harvard are looking to explore what storytelling looks like in volumetric 3D as opposed to VR, discover what kinds of color and rendering have the most impact etc. They won’t debut the result for another year or so, but they are very excited to start on this project, and we can’t wait to what they come up with!
We also can’t wait to see what the physics departments say when the see it!
Bios:
Michael Bove – MIT
V. Michael Bove is head of the Object-Based Media Group at the MIT Media Lab. His research explores digital television systems, video processing hardware/software design, multimedia, scene modeling, user interfaces, visual display technologies and optics. He holds patents on inventions relating to video recording, hardcopy, interactive television, user interface and medical imaging.
Bove is a co-author, with the late Stephen A. Benton, of Holographic Imaging. He is on the board of editors for the SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) Motion Imaging Journal, and serves as SMPTE’s education director. He served as co-chair of the 2012 International Symposium on Display Holography.
More at the artist’s website: V. Michael Bove
David Levine – Harvard University
David Levine is Professor of the Practice in Performance, Theater and Media at Harvard University. His performance and exhibition work has been presented by institutions including MoMA, Mass MoCA, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and he has been featured in Artforum, Frieze, The New Yorker and the New York Times. He has also directed operas and plays at BRIC House, the Atlantic Theater, Primary Stages and Soho Rep.
More at the artist’s website: David Levine
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