Walking, not Running, and Getting Nowhere (Exploration #1)

My residency is now underway at the Yoshikaze space at the HUMlab Island in Second Life and for the last two days I have been working on a mixed reality experience for my avatar, full details below. This is the first in a series of works exploring place in and out of Second Life (SL) and combinations with 'real' life (RL). Works undertaken over the next 2/3 weeks will take the form of:

• Performance props
• Wearables
• Sculptural objects

Walking, not Running, and Getting Nowhere is the first performance exploration. The intention here is to explore an immersive experience for my avatar and myself as my avatar in SL through a first person point of view.

My avatar is set to animate a walk on the spot, on top of a screen broadcasting a live video feed of a walk from RL. Alongside is a heads up display (HUD) showing my RL position as the walk occurs. My RL walk is source media/experience for my avatar, augmenting its SL experience and inverting what is often the purpose of virtual worlds, augmenting our RL experience (i.e. through SL social networking etc.)

The result is a mixed reality experience for my avatar, walking in a visual space beyond its own yet with no control or actual locomotion, extended as a result of streaming lag, augmented in some ways yet futile in others.