Technology, memory and experience : virtual reality, motion capture and early modern theatre

This paper investigates virtual reality representations of performance in London’s late sixteenth-century Rose Theatre, a venue that, by means of current technology, can once again challenge perceptions of space, performance, and memory. The VR model of The Rose becomes a Camillo device in that it represents a virtual recreation of this venue in as much detail as possible and attempts to recover graphic demonstrations of the trace memories of the performance modes of the day. The VR model is based on accurate archeological and theatre historical records and is easy to navigate. The introduction of human figures onto The Rose’s stage via motion capture allows us to explore the relationships between space, actor and environment. The combination of venue and actors facilitates a new way of thinking about how the work of early modern playwrights can be stored and recalled. This virtual theatre is thus activated to intersect productively with contemporary studies in performance; as such, our paper provides a perspective on and embodiment of the relation between technology, memory and experience. It is, at its simplest, a useful archiving project for theatrical history, but it is directly relevant to contemporary performance practice as well. Further, it reflects upon how technology and ‘re-enactments’ of sorts mediate the way in which knowledge and experience are transferred, and even what may be considered ‘knowledge.’ Our work provides opportunities to begin addressing what such intermedial confrontations might produce for ‘remembering, experiencing, thinking and imagining.’ We contend that these confrontations will enhance live theatre performance rather than impeding or disrupting contemporary performance practice. This paper intersects with the CFP’s ‘Performing Memory’ and ‘Memory Lab’ themes. Our presentation (which includes a demonstration of the VR model and the motion capture it requires) takes the form of two closely linked papers that share a single abstract. The two papers will be given by two people, one of whom will be physically present in Utrecht, the other participating via Skype.

Board network characteristics and company performance in Sweden : the case of Gnosjö companies and their board members in southern Sweden

When managers of entrepreneurial companies typically talk about strategies, they first consider what products to make and secondly where to locate the business. The entrepreneurial companies locate in rural areas because of a wish to maintain a certain lifestyle, or because they can combine a resource available there with certain knowledge or interest that they have (Getz and Nilsson, 2004). In addition, many managers of entrepreneurial companies are confident in locating in a rural area, because there often is economic and social structure supportive of local corporate governance. The most central part of corporate governance is the board of directors. In an entrepreneurial company in a rural area, such members of boards are most likely to be individuals in dominant positions influential in the local economy.

Order supported by law : the enforcement of norms in virtual communities

As online social spaces continue to grow in importance, the complex relationship between users and the private providers of the platforms continues to raise increasingly difficult questions about legitimacy in online governance. This article examines two issues that go to the core of egitimate governance in online communities: how are rules enforced and punishments imposed, and how should the law support legitimate governance and protect participants from the illegitimate exercise of power? Because the rules of online communities are generally ultimately backed by contractual terms of service, the imposition of punishment for the breach of internal rules exists in a difficult conceptual gap between criminal law and the predominantly compensatory remedies of contractual doctrine. When theorists have addressed the need for the rules of virtual communities to be enforced, a dichotomy has generally emerged between the appropriate role of criminal law for 'real' crimes, and the private, internal resolution of 'virtual' or 'fantasy' crimes. In this structure, the punitive effect of internal measures is downplayed and the harm that can be caused to participants by internal sanctions is systemically undervalued.

Using virtual worlds for collaborative business process modeling

Purpose Process modeling is a complex organizational task that requires many iterations and communication between the business analysts and the domain specialists. The challenge of process modeling is exacerbated, when the process of modeling has to be performed in a cross-organizational, distributed environment. In this paper we suggest a 3D environment for collaborative process modeling, using Virtual World technology. Design/methodology/approach We suggest a new collaborative process modeling approach based on Virtual World technology. We describe the design of an innovative prototype collaborative process modeling approach, implemented as a 3D BPMN modeling environment in Second Life. We use a case study to evaluate the suggested approach. Findings Based on our case study application, we show that our approach increases user empowerment and adds significantly to the collaboration and consensual development of process models even when the relevant stakeholders are geographically dispersed. Research limitations implications – We present design work and a case study. More research is needed to more thoroughly evaluate the presented approach in a variety of real-life process modeling settings. Practical implications Our research outcomes as design artifacts are directly available and applicable by business process management professionals and can be used by business, system and process analysts in real-world practice. Originality/value Our research is the first reported attempt to develop a process modeling approach on the basis of virtual world technology. We describe a novel and innovative 3D BPMN modeling environment in Second Life.

Business process simulation in virtual worlds

This is an invited presentation made as a short preview of the virtual environment research work being undertaken at QUT in the Business Process Management (BPM) research group, known as BPMVE. Three projects are covered, spatial process visualisation, with applications to airport check-in processes, collaborative process modelling using a virtual world BPMN editing tool and business process simulation in virtual worlds using Open Simulator and the YAWL workflow system. In addition, the relationship of this work to Organisational Psychology is briefly explored. Full Video/Audio is available at: http://www.youtube.com/user/BPMVE#p/u/1/rp506c3pPms

Small, Medium, Large: Theatre Companies and Issues of Scale - A Case Study of a Medium-Sized Company

'Surviving but not thriving.' Tbat is the message about small to mediumsized companies that Ian McRae, Chair ofthe Theatre Board of the Australia Council, has been delivering since 2003. In the Theatre Board Assessment Meeting Report of 2007, McRae strongly urged renewed financial support for this most important sector given the significant decrease over the last 10 years and the consequent decrease in new Australian works being produced. Without such support his prediction is that'considerable damage could be done to the creative infrastructure across Australia resulting in a loss of artistic vibrancy down the track that could be very difficult to recover' (McRae, 2007:3).

The treatment of employee priority in a deed of company arrangement

This article examines one of the changes implemented in the Corporations Amendment (Insolvency) Act 2007 (Cth) . It is argued that the insertion of s 444DA raises some matters that go to the nature of the insolvency process generally and the operation of Pt 5.3A in a particular. The position of employees in insolvency is a matter that is the subject of much comment from a policy perspective. This article does not cover that debate but provides some initial explanation of the need to protect employees. The second part of the article covers the particular background to the voluntary administration system as far as employee rights are concerned as well as the arguments put forward by the government to justify the change in the legislation which inserted s 444DA . It suggests that there was little evidence provided for the need to protect employee priority rights in this particular way. An alternative explanation is given for the change adopted by the government. The third part of the article suggests that the manner in which the legislation seeks to better protect employee creditors is somewhat clumsy in its operation. It raises a number of questions about how the legislation may operate and argues that given the stated aims, some alteration to it would improve its effectiveness.

The first global entertainment company : explaining Pathe's global dominance in the pre-Hollywood film industry

For almost a decade before Hollywood existed, French firm Pathe towered over the early film industry with estimates of its share of all films sold around the world varying between 50-70%. Pathe was the first global entertainment company. This paper analyses its rise to market leadership by applying a theoretical framework drawn from the business literature on causes of industry dominance, which provides insights into how firms acquire and maintain market dominance, and in this case the film industry. This paper uses evidence presented by film historians to argue that Pathe “fits” the expected theoretical model of a dominant firm because it had a marketing orientation, used an effective quality-based competitive strategy and possessed the six critical strategic marketing capabilities that business research shows enable the best performing firms to consistently outperform rivals

Use of virtual index for measuring efficiency of innovation systems : a cross-country study

In this study we propose a virtual index for measuring the relative innovativeness of countries. Using a multistage virtual benchmarking process, the best and rational benchmark is extracted for inefficient ISs. Furthermore, Tobit and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression models are used to investigate the likelihood of changes in inefficiencies by investigating country-specific factors. The empirical results relating to the virtual benchmarking process suggest that the OLS regression model would better explain changes in the performance of innovation- inefficient countries.