Pushing the boundaries of musical theatre
As part of a Human-Centered Innovation class I took in the mechanical engineering department at Columbia in Spring 2021, I completed a semester-long project as a group of 5. Under the theme of "leveraging the crowd in times of a global pandemic" my team and I identified the entertainment sector in NYC as an opportunity area that allowed us to make use of the variety of people and places New York has to offer. An integral part of New York's entertainment scene, we investigated problems that Broadway production companies and spectators encountered.
We conducted research with broadway actors, directors and businesses across NYC and found that
- for spectators, the physicality of broadway is irreplaceable
- for producers, break-even costs are a major concern, which is why opening theaters half-filled is not an option
- the theatre scene reinvents itself every decade or so, giving space for new trends
- broadway shows need to continue generating revenue during a pandemic in order to not be completely closed
We developed an AR-based solution and service design that facilitates New York's crowds by utilizing the city's existing public spaces and introducing new technology into both set design and the theatre consumption experience. BroadAR pushes the boundaries of what we know as musical theatre, beyond the pandemic.
Interested in what this is all about? Check out our presentation and promotional video on the last slide of our presentation.
