For people who love musical theatre, they’ll get the chance to experience a musical like never before with the help of augmented reality (AR) and Magic Leap One, a headset with spatial computing abilities.
Wilkins Avenue, a new “consulting & production company specializing in narrative, immersive experiences,” produced a musical in tandem with Pollen Music Group. Featuring the lead singer Vanessa Williams, attendees of the Comic-Con Paris this past weekend had the first chance to experience the debut of the AR musical “Out There.”
Using Magic Leap One, the animated world of “Out There” is brought into the audience’s own environment, and audience members can even interact with the story—the characters and props can react to audience members’ movements—so that each experience with the musical is unique.
Many companies besides Wilkins Avenue have made deep inroads into exploring how AR can expand and innovate entertainment experiences for a variety of audiences. There are plenty of big-scale projects, like this musical project or Facebook’s AR glasses, but there’s also a multitude of smaller, more mobile AR experiences thanks to smartphones and apps. “There’s an app for that” is a popular adage about the diversity of technology that has now seeped into pretty much every aspect of our modern lives. But maybe in the near future we’ll need to modify “There’s an app for that” and instead say “There’s an AR app for that,” whether it’s casting spells in Harry Potter or trying on new Gucci sneakers.
