An Exploratory Educational Drama: Scenographing with Sound in an Immersive Narrative Space

Lei Li, Siliang Du, Duoyi Li, Wenxuan Zhu, Qihao Wang, Yulin Chen, and Runhan Liu

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

This paper presents an immersive, actor-less theatrical experience where the physical space functions as a "narrative instrument." Developed as a pedagogical case study in creative technology, the project enabled undergraduate students to develop technical fluency in interdisciplinary system integration. The resulting system utilizes a distributed architecture--integrating distributed sensor networks and multi-channel audio engines--to map audience movement onto performative gestures across five interactive zones. By incorporating a "Wizard of Oz" surveillance system, the architecture ensures organic narrative progression where sound acts as the primary scenographic agent. This work contributes a practical framework for sonic worldbuilding and demonstrates an experimental pedagogy for cultivating applied technical skills within collaborative artistic production.

Citation

Lei Li, Siliang Du, Duoyi Li, Wenxuan Zhu, Qihao Wang, Yulin Chen, and Runhan Liu. 2026. An Exploratory Educational Drama: Scenographing with Sound in an Immersive Narrative Space. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20784493 [PDF]

BibTeX Entry

@inproceedings{nime2026_162,
 abstract = {This paper presents an immersive, actor-less theatrical experience where the physical space functions as a "narrative instrument." Developed as a pedagogical case study in creative technology, the project enabled undergraduate students to develop technical fluency in interdisciplinary system integration. The resulting system utilizes a distributed architecture--integrating distributed sensor networks and multi-channel audio engines--to map audience movement onto performative gestures across five interactive zones. By incorporating a "Wizard of Oz" surveillance system, the architecture ensures organic narrative progression where sound acts as the primary scenographic agent. This work contributes a practical framework for sonic worldbuilding and demonstrates an experimental pedagogy for cultivating applied technical skills within collaborative artistic production.},
 address = {London, United Kingdom},
 articleno = {162},
 author = {Lei Li and Siliang  Du and Duoyi Li and Wenxuan Zhu and Qihao Wang and Yulin Chen and Runhan Liu},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.20784493},
 editor = {Benedict Gaster and João Tragtenberg and Anna Xambó and Tom Mitchell},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {June},
 note = {},
 numpages = {10},
 pages = {1303--1312},
 presentation-video = {https://youtu.be/87sIP_TjNDA},
 title = {An Exploratory Educational Drama: Scenographing with Sound in an Immersive Narrative Space},
 track = {paper},
 url = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2026/nime2026_162.pdf},
 year = {2026}
}