Virtual Creativity - Volume 13, Issue 1, 2023

Disruptions to live performance caused by the recent pandemic have fuelled a surge in virtual concerts, impacting both classical and popular music. This article explores ways in which audio-visual media have been used during the pandemic to maintain the live performance of classical music, through comparison with recent examples of virtual creativity in popular music (including performances by virtual artists in virtual spaces, Vocaloid and holographic concerts). Insights into audience experience are revealed: the benefits of engaging with music performance through online platforms include opportunities for social interaction, agency and an enhanced sense of community. Yet this participatory approach challenges the attentive listening mode embedded in the long-held conceptualization of classical music, and the new modes of performance and communication challenge established beliefs about the superiority of live performance over recording. Opportunities for creativity and audience experience and development are found in the notions of distributed creativity, distributed listening and the democratization of culture that are embedded in many of the practices of virtual music concerts. Analysing scholarly literature, music criticism, commentary and selected case studies, the article explores these ideas and opportunities through four episodes entitled to capture prominent themes: presence, absence and distance, intimacy and wonder.

This article demonstrates a case study in research-creation based on the extended reality (XR) placemaking initiative, and reports on the development of two iterations that are part of a digital technologies (DT) project. Various studies with a focus on restorative and relaxation applications have shown positive findings in improving mental wellness and self-awareness. We speculate that combining physical activity and exposure to digital nature can provide additional health benefits compared to restorative activities alone. The first iteration, Mind Space XR, is a virtual reality (VR) project that has the initial goal of supporting users to experience emotion-focused skills training based on mindfulness, emotion regulation and compassion in a low-risk environment. In this iteration of the DT project, we have focused on interaction design aspects and the research-creation process required to develop the information architecture framework of an early prototype. This ongoing research then informs the development of a second iteration, the ‘inclusive virtual simulation space’ – a VR learning simulation initiative that supports users to experience customizable content in an inclusive environment. Combining Australian Curriculum areas from DT and the humanities and social sciences, this study will experiment with the human–computer interaction process with the goal of configuring a modular high-fidelity virtual environment to achieve perceived ease of use by user groups including creators, educators and students. This will lead to a proof-of-concept platform with the flexibility to integrate digital content that permits the co-creation of digital prototypes driven by inclusive virtual and physical placemaking and simulation learning. This educational inclusive virtual simulation project focuses on experimenting with and introducing education technology and XR skills and knowledge to educators and creators, which is broadly applicable to education-based DT contexts.

The virtual reality progress is undeniable. It has dabbled in multiple fields, from general education, all the way to the complicated nuclear technology education. This can be attributed to the flexibility of this tool. To integrate this technology into the Universidad de la Costa, a two-part project was initiated. This work represents the first part, where the authors analysed the use of prototype development to migrate a brain model to a virtual environment. Additionally, an initial evaluation was also applied to estimate the benefits and advantages of the model in this early development stage. It was found that this methodology provides an excellent form of communication between the developer and the user. Also, prototyping helps to correct errors at an early stage of the project. Although some problems were found due to the use of this methodology, the authors present some solutions that might avoid them. The result was an application that exceeded expectations, and even though it is incomplete, end users consider that it can be implemented as a teaching aid.

Starting from the last decade of the twentieth century, the architectural circles started to show more interest in the concept called the ‘virtual realm’. From their perspective it was an untouched and strange territory. On the other hand, from users’ perspective it was a perfect tool to eliminate the difficult conditions of daily life flow, allowing them to socialize while visiting fantastic spaces and experiencing adventures. These places may be far beyond our understanding of the real world, and they may also seem like a utopia; but despite all these they have their own realities. This new world with its inspiring spaces deserves a better understanding. It can be stated that the virtual realm actually has certain convergences with the well-known space theories from Foucault’s ‘heterotopias’ and Soja’s ‘thirdspaces’. Based on this point, the study first introduces four different examples from the virtual world and discusses how the feeling of heterotopia or thirdspace in these spaces emerges. Discussing the fact of how to read a space in this new world, when time and sense of place seem to be lost but a unique and mythical order is created, will be the main emphasis of this article.