X

Microsoft's latest HoloLens partner: Cirque du Soleil

The future of theater set design could be holographic.

Scott Stein Editor at Large
I started with CNET reviewing laptops in 2009. Now I explore wearable tech, VR/AR, tablets, gaming and future/emerging trends in our changing world. Other obsessions include magic, immersive theater, puzzles, board games, cooking, improv and the New York Jets. My background includes an MFA in theater which I apply to thinking about immersive experiences of the future.
Expertise VR and AR, gaming, metaverse technologies, wearable tech, tablets Credentials
  • Nearly 20 years writing about tech, and over a decade reviewing wearable tech, VR, and AR products and apps
Scott Stein
Watch this: Microsoft shows wild demo of Cirque du Soleil inside HoloLens

At Microsoft's Build developer conference, there were a lot of pitches for the use cases of mixed reality. One of the wilder demos was from some of the team members of Cirque du Soleil, who demonstrated using Microsoft's HoloLens for virtual design work. Cirque's "C: Lab" innovation laboratory showed off HoloLens and mixed reality toolsets for future set designs in a stage demo with virtual performers.

screen-shot-2017-05-11-at-1-16-41-pm.png

Cirque performer, digitally added to a digital set.

Screenshot by Scott Stein/CNET

The demo showed how a set for a future Cirque show could be constructed in actual scale, skinned with textures, and then have holographic actors applied. Of course, the stage demo seen on Microsoft's Build video maximizes the field of view beyond what the actual HoloLens headset enables, but the idea is fascinating.

screen-shot-2017-05-11-at-1-15-16-pm.png

Building the set with a virtual partner.

Screenshot by Scott Stein/CNET

It's certainly a killer use case for live venues or other installation spaces that need to be designed collaboratively, and at least shows how theater design collaboration could work. The future of large-scale, live physical theater planning could, someday, have some of its roots in digital tools like these.

Inside 'O': The technological magic of Cirque du Soleil

See all photos