Guest Interactivity 

While the Guest is a non-speaking partygoer, there are many opportunities for agency to inspect books, photos, letters, and other character-offered objects that both enhance the dramatic experience and provide additional backstory in a cinematic “Show, don’t Tell” fashion. The video’s immersive visual and aural cues function as virtual haptics, leading the Guest’s brain into imagining them as “real” experiences and creating memories around them.

Scene 1 (7 pm). The characters direct some of their dialogue about Gatsby's shady past to the Guest. The Guest may inspect the store receipt and book with uncut pages.

Scene 2 (8 pm). The conductor taps and points his baton directly at the Guest and says: “This song is for you” before the orchestra begins playing a fox trot. If wearing an MR headset/glasses, the Guest sees a digital hand give the conductor a thumbs-up or another acknowledgement. The Guest may inspect Gatsby’s war medal and Oxford University photo.

Scene 3 (10 pm). A waiter walks up to the Guest with a tray of hors d'oeuvres and asks: “Excuse me! Care for an appetizer?” If wearing an MR headset/glasses, the Guest sees a digital hand reach out for an appetizer. The Guest may inspect Gatsby’s Dan Cody photos.

Scene 4 (12 am). The Girl in Yellow walks up to the Guest with an extended hand and asks: “Hello! May I have this dance?” If wearing an MR headset/glasses, the Guest sees a digital hand reach out for the flapper’s hand. Throughout this confrontational dramatic scene, the characters direct some of their remarks to the Guest. The Guest may read the private eye’s letter about Gatsby.

Scene 5 (4 am).  The Guest may read Gatsby's telegram to Daisy.


Viewer Dream-Spaces      

Gatsby readers have their own American Dreams. During the afternoon it takes to read the novel’s 180 pages, readers will occasionally — consciously or unconsciously — slip from its exposition of Gatsby’s corrupted dream and, Gatsby-like, mirror elements of their own dreams on how to shape the future by orchestrating the present to recapture some nostalgic past. Readers will build bridges from what they’ve personally experienced to the story unfolding on the page.

The inexorable, directed progress of a traditional movie leaves little or no time for such effective daydreaming. But music preludes preceding video scenes 1 to 4 provide the Guest with these temporal opportunities. After each prelude’s mandatory first minute (to allow for musical start-ups and conductor-waiter-dancer interactions), the Guest may opt to have each music piece play on to completion (typically 4 minutes).

Coupled with the freedom to look about the production stage, the preludes provide for Guest “dream-spaces” to accommodate the active mind-wandering one may experience when reading the novel. The Guest may “wander” back to mentally associate what is being  seen to something familiar and intimate. As with the novel's readers, the Guest will build bridges from what has been personally experienced to the story unfolding on the video.  


Spatial Audio

Spatial audio is a powerful way to fully immerse the Guest and direct attention within a 180° 3D production via sound. With spatial audio, the entire spherical sound field is audible and responds to changes in the Guest's head rotation.

Spatial audio gives the Guest an impression of directionality and a believable auditory experience that matches what is seen. Spatial audio involves the manipulation of audio signals to mimic acoustic behavior in the real world. An accurate sonic representation of a virtual world creates a compelling immersive experience. Spatial audio is best heard through an enabled pair of headphones or earbuds — no special speakers, hardware, or multi-channel headphones are required.

Spatial audio not only serves to enhance the immersion but is also effective in alerting the Guest to dramatic moments within the presentation. It directs the Guest's attention during the music preludes when they are likely to be looking around the virtual stage. The conductor’s tapping baton in scene 2, the waiter’s “Excuse me?” in scene 3 and the dancer’s “Hello?” in scene 4 all alert the Guest to these characters’ subsequent comments and actions.


Haptic Devices

Haptic technology creates an experience of touch by applying forces, vibrations or motions to the viewer. These technologies can be used to interact with virtual objects in a digital environment and incorporate tactile sensors that measure forces exerted by the viewer. Haptics are gaining acceptance as a key part of MR systems, adding the sense of touch to visual and aural interfaces.