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PC-Based Control of Theater Stage Machinery The work of this project, as part of continuing research into developing and adapting flexible and affordable technology for performing artists, is to refine and test a software-based Human Machine Interface (HMI) for the control of stage machinery and effects in live performance. This work has the following goals: 1) to utilize the existing and affordable industrial-control components recently available as a result of advances in microprocessor control and power electronics, 2) to integrate the technology currently used by theater practitioners, and 3) to develop highly flexible systems that promote a wide range of artistic experimentation. Some theater specific HMIs are already in use, but are generally unsuitable to the work of many live-performance artists in that they either are part of mechanical systems permanently installed in production venues, or are available included in complete proprietary systems accessible mostly to large commercial projects. As a result, designers and technicians wanting to integrate readily available, inexpensive, and powerful industrial control equipment into scenic effects are faced with the prospect of tedious programming that is not well suited to live performance and the demands of the rehearsal process. The software interface under development in the project allows a flexible but theater specific front end to these industrial controls by way of personal computers that in many cases are already a part of the backstage milieu. Ultimately, the technician will be able to tailor the HMI to the production and the effect consistently and seamlessly.
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© Fritz Schwentker -- 26 August 2004 |
