Michail Kouratoras of the Department of Film, Television and Scenography at Aalto University in Finland has investigated the notion of cyborg theatre as defined by Jennifer Parker-Starbuck in 2011 in the context of video games. In Parker-Starbuck’s definition, the organic world of people is merged for theatrical effect with technology. The roots of the concept lie in the fictional world of Frankensteins’ “monster”, “The Cybermen” of Doctor Who fame, “The Borg” of Star Trek, and countless other fanciful creations wherein the organic and the inorganic are fused, hybridised or otherwise melded into allegorical creations for entertainment and edification.
The cyborg may be fanciful but it is a powerful fancy in fiction and, as real-world technology evolves, we begin to see that fictional fusion emerging through what we might call bionic prosthetics. Where such concepts will lead obviously remains to be seen, we are very much at the dawn of that era. Kouratoras, however, has focused on the contemporary, real-time, three-dimensional and avatar-based interactive fiction video game genre as a model for how cyborg theatre itself is evolving.
As such, he has looked at how the gamer becomes a “real” actor or player within the game. One might look to an episode of the TV series Black Mirror, specifically “Striking Vipers” as an extension of this notion wherein the game players can actually be transported mentally into the action of the game and experience it is reality. Such a scenario is an entirely fictional construct and may always remain so. But, playing a game does become a performance when a player becomes as immersed as is possible in the experience, perhaps even more so when connected to a community of other players.
The converse, where augmented reality is utilised in the real world as a component of a game, is of course, already possible and well known with games such as Pokémon GO. In such games, the virtual world is overlaid on reality through the screen of a portable gaming device. Where the worlds collide we will see new entertaining and edifying scenarios arise. Moreover, where those bionic prosthetics become an increasing reality, we might also so virtuality overlaid on reality in physical ways. It will be interesting to see who emerges from the wings as the cyborg theatrical directors, who the actors are, and who keeps an eye on the evolving script and carries out the safety checks
Kouratoras, M. (2020) ‘Interactive fiction video games as cyborg theatre. A postphenomenological approach’, Int. J. Arts and Technology, Vol. 12, No. 3, pp.197–217.