Authors Alice Cavasino, Fabrizio Sulpizio
Shared VR is the virtual reality interpretation of the opera Shared, conceived by composer Michelangelo Lupone as part of the ItARTS project — an ITArts multimedia research initiative (MIUR/PNRR) uniting music, visual arts and technology.
SharedVR | Act 1
Multiple participants share the same virtual space, where every gesture leaves a trace: the environment shifts at the passage of their hands, building a collective memory in constant evolution. The boundary between artist and spectator dissolves — each body becomes a co-author of an ever-transforming sonic and visual landscape.
Developed by Politecnico di Torino, Shared VR is not a replica of the physical installation but an autonomous artistic medium, reinterpreting co-creation and adaptivity in a space that exists only while its participants are inside it.
video – the experience
The Narrative Arc. Three Acts
Act I – Single User
Antecedent
The user enters the virtual space alone — unaware others share the same environment. The user begins to explore the sound-shapes independently.
Act II – Multi-user
Polyphonic Composition
The other participants populate the virtual environment. Three users share the space and co-compose a live audiovisual work — each gesture absorbed into the oracle’s growing memory.
Act III – Machine Agency
Climax & Dissolution
The oracle performs a unique composition built entirely from what the group created. The totem expands to engulf the space. Sound and light dissolve together. Shared silence.
Core Principles
Participation
No audience. No performer. Everybody is a co-author.
Collective Memory
Every gesture stratified. The space remembers what the group creates.
Adaptivity
The environment changes with every session. Never fixed, never the same.
Tools & Technologies
Virtual Environment
- Unity 6. Real-time multiuser XR environment. OpenXR, XR Hands, XR Interaction Toolkit.
- Netcode for GameObjects. Three headsets synchronised in real time: gestures, oracle state, particle streams.
- Meta Quest 3. PC VR. Hands Only.
Procedural Audio
- Max/MSP. Live synthesis. Gesture data via OSC: timbre, dynamics, trajectory are live parameters.
- IRCAM SPAT. Ambisonics spatial rendering. Sound placed in 3D, mirroring gesture position.
- OSC Bridge. Unity to Max/MSP. Every movement shapes the sound in real time.
UN 2030 Agenda — SDG 4
Education is the key that will allow many other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved. When people are able to get quality education they can break from the cycle of poverty. Education helps to reduce inequalities and to reach gender equality. It also empowers people everywhere to live more healthy and sustainable lives. Education is also crucial to fostering tolerance between people and contributes to more peaceful societies.