DigiSelf is the official companion app for the Bit(e), tear, gnaw, GULP! immersive multimedia performance tour, kicking off with two performances at Bumbershoot 2011 in Seattle.
The DigiSelf app has three states:
Performance, Sound(flash) Mob and Digital Maze
All three states provide an immersive environmental Art experience and the opportunity for interactive participation. The performance and sound(flash) mob states are primarily used during performance dates, while the digital maze is the foundation for the app, providing an artistic experience made up of text, image, audio and video content that reflect on our contemporary digital lives.
THE PERFORMANCE
The Bit(e), tear, gnaw, GULP! performance is an immersive art experience in which different technologies merge to shape a new kind of inclusive, experimental performance environment. Audience members move from states of passive individual perception to active collective participation using the DigiSelf iphone app.
In the performance, users are hooked into the communal experience of the show via a web browser window. The webpage (digitalself.me) functions primarily as a messaging service and displays displays the tweet feed for the show, @digianon. Users can sign in with their own twitter accounts and tweet at the shows twitter account, @digianon, or they can send messages to "the collective" (our server) which then moderates and posts the messages anonymously from @digianon. Audience members use this system to interact with performers, moderators and other audience members during the performance. During key moments in the show, messages are requested and utilized to generate unique performance experiences.
During the show the webpage in the browser window will be updated in real time to show performance related content, including and immersing audience members into the performance. Each audience gets to hold a piece of the performance in their hand in the form of their iPhone, and through their iPhone participate in the visual and aural environments around them.
Users worldwide who are not at the show but wish to be included in the event will see these real time updates and use our messaging system to interact with those at the show, in addition to having access to a live feed of the show.
THE SOUND(FLASH) MOB
The sound(flash) mob part of this app experience is focused on bringing the audience together as a community to mutually create an immersive sound environment. Participants will be instructed to turn their phone volumes on high and trigger the mob content. Mob content includes the primary audio file along with iconic video imagery from the live performance, connecting the participants through a visual experience in addition to the aural one.
The DigiSelf immersive sound(flash) mobs will involve everyone in the audience as well those outside the live performance who want to join the experience. Participation of people not directly involved in the live performances will be especially encouraged, extending the artistic experience of this app to unlimited view- ers and pushing the boundaries of immersive art environments.
THE DIGITAL MAZE
The DigiSelf app experience is not restricted to viewers of the live shows or participants of the sound(flash) mobs. The primary and enduring experience of the app is that of the digital maze. Users worldwide can explore the digital maze whether or not they ever attend an event.
In the digital maze, users immerse themselves in an atmospheric digital art world made up of images, text, video and sound that reflect on contemporary digital identity. DigiSelf app users can also get together with other DigiSelf app users to explore the immersive environments and poetic moments that emerge as individual paths through the maze converge into a collective Art
experience. Unexpected collisions of content ask new questions about our contemporary digital lives.