Activity: for TOGETHER, a collaborative live experience platform to tour schools across New Zealand with interactive film-based educational content. Brad Knewstubb’s pop-up touring model for TOGETHER aims to overcome barriers that remote communities face in accessing contemporary technologies and education content. The original proposal employed 360 degree projection in a geodesic dome, interactive video, augmented reality headsets and a fully immersive environment, however for a number of reasons including the pandemic, the approach shifted in order to make delivery more achievable with the new constraints.

Outcome: “The Cultural Fund grant contributed directly to the development of the TOGETHER platform, a proprietary software system for live performance that allows for fully customisable interaction between audience members, real-time animation rendering, and dynamic narrative in storytelling. TOGETHER is built around the Unreal gaming engine (the same engine used in games like Fortnite), and works in tandem with an existing show cueing system (QLab) to co-ordinate lighting, sound and projection in real-time, while also allowing direct communication between audience members (via a tablet at their seat) to enable real-time interaction with the experience itself.” – Brad Knewstubb