COVID-19 has forced most festivals and events to either cancel or reinvent themselves for 2020. Luma Projection Arts Festival is doing the latter. 

Every September for the past five years, Luma has lit up downtown Binghamton, bringing buildings to life with projection mapping and animations. This year, organizers say they had to rethink things, knowing they couldn't have large crowds converge on downtown. 

The festival organizers have instead put together a virtual reality theater experience in partnership with Tri-Cities Opera. Miranda: A Steampunk VR Experience combines a virtual reality set with characters controlled by live actors.

"It's a way to revitalize live theater in the age of COVID," says Luma co-founder Joshua Bernard, "A lot of singers aren't working. They can't put food on the table. How do we bring the arts back during COVID safely with social distancing? We use technology."

The story is set in a dystopian future where a murder trial is taking place. Characters will testify in aria. This is an opera, after all. The audience will participate from their homes, "serving as judge and jury," according to Bernard. 

The performers will be in separate booths housed at Tri-Cities Opera. Each performer will wear a motion-tracking suit and a headset that can track their facial expressions. Their actions will be transferred on to animated character which the audience will see on screen. 

"They'll appear to be together, but they're socially distant," says Bernard.

 

Bernard says it was not easy to pull this project together. Besides figuring out how to do it and the technology involved, Bernard says some sponsors for Luma were no longer able to commit funding once COVID-19 hit. Other funding sources stayed in it to help get the project off the ground, including M&T Bank, Visions Federal Credit Union, and the City of Binghamton. 

Miranda: A Steampunk VR Experience is free to watch, but there is an option to donate. Bernard says, after all, the hope is to keep the arts alive until we can enjoy them in person once again. 

There will be nine showings on September 24th, 25th, and 26th. The show is downloadable to be viewed on computers or can be streamed on YouTube on any other device. If you have a virtual reality headset, you will be able to view the production from "within" the room it is set in and look at the action from any direction.

For more details and for reservations, visit the Luma website. Space in the audience is free, but there is an opportunity to donate when reserving a spot.