The immersive arts and entertainment cognoscenti showed up at the School of Visual Arts Graduate Theatre in NYC on Thursday, January 22nd for ‘Immersive Theatre: Volumetric Capture Smashes the Four Walls.’ Some of the leading players in the field, including Richard Broadbridge from 4Dviews, Todd Eckert from Tin Drum, Inc., and Leigh Tanner from HTC VIVE Arts, and Chris Pfaff SXSW from Chris Pfaff Tech Media LLC gave detailed presentations on experiential theatrical and musical works that leverage how volumetric video enables human-like presence, emotional depth, and audience connection in ways that traditional stages simply cannot.

Todd Eckert, who produced ‘An Ark,’ which had premiered the previous evening at The Shed (NY), showed how the four actors, including Sir Ian McKellen, took to the volumetric recording process. Richard Broadbridge discussed his work with Eckert on ‘An Ark’ and their previous collaborations, including ‘KAGAMI’ with Ryuichi Sakamoto. Leigh Tanner discussed ‘Playing with Fire,’ the spectacular musical experience with pianist Yuja Wang, currently playing at Philharmonie in Paris.

We had a who’s who of the New York VFX/virtual production/immersive theatre crowd, from Brandon Powers to James George (who received a bravura shout-out from Todd Eckert) to Alon Grinshpoon. Many thanks to Terrence Masson and Trilby Schreiber from SVA, who made it possible.

This was a real watershed event for volumetric video in the immersive theatre space.

You can watch the entire session at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjiWe89ZvZw

Richard Broadbridge (4Dviews), Todd Eckert (Tin Drum), Leigh Tanner (HTC Vive Arts), Chris Pfaff (Chris Pfaff Tech Media)

Todd Eckert presents and discusses the making of ‘An Ark’

Close-up of Todd Eckert, Tin Drum

Richard Broadbridge, from 4Dviews, presents 4Dviews’ work in immersive theatre

Leigh Tanner, from HTC Vive Arts, discusses the making of ‘Playing with Fire’

Todd Eckert, Richard Broadbridge, and Leigh Tanner before the event

Chris Pfaff, with James George (Adobe) and Alon Grinshpoon (echo3D) after the event

Michael Gold (SVA), James George, Richard Broadbridge, and Kefei Li, from Sculpt AI after the event

On Thursday, June 12, 2025, Chris Pfaff moderated the expert session ‘How to Create Life-Like Immersive Stories with Volumetric Video Production’ at the Long Beach Convention Center, with panelists Richard Broadbridge from 4Dviews, Lauren Michelle from Operaverse & The Chipped Nail, and Corey Rosen from Super 78.

You can watch the full session at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM1z_MSdvs8&list=PLLri17oDqCEXMqpqT78XH7n_EvfxeBZ1a&index=14

HOW TO CREATE LIFE-LIFE IMMERSIVE STORIES WITH VOLUMETRIC VIDEO PRODUCTION

The explosion of virtual stories across platforms has seen an increase in the integration of real humans in immersive experiences. The evolution of stunningly realistic volumetric video now enables real human capture and integration in scenes that are life-like and spatially adaptive. The innovations that are now making the human more prominent in complex virtual narratives are being led by producers and toolmakers who are building a network of dynamic volumetric artisans.

This session features leading developers of mixed reality, VR, and mobile AR that enable virtual humans – not avatars – to live and perform in immersive environments.