The Machine Stops was born out of the Fifth Wall Forum Connector where an international team of five theatre and XR professionals created a working VR-prototype in two months time by Agnes Karolina Bakk, Kim Baumann Larsen, David Gochfeld, Carrie Schoenfeld, and Nick Tjaardstra.
It is a live interactive theatre experience in VR where the audience are citizens in the future dystopian world of The Machine. A live actor portrays Kuno, your guide and mentor, helping you adapt to life in your Pod. While teaching conformity and faith in the Machine, Kuno has a secret agenda. Will they convince you to rebel and escape?
Written in 1909; a dystopian science fiction story with uncanny parallels to the world of today. With the Earth's surface rendered uninhabitable by pollution, humans now live underground in single-person "pods”. All their needs are met by the omnipresent Machine, physical activity is frowned upon and all social interactions occur through video screens.
In a world where isolation is the norm, physical contact is shunned, and all your needs are met by the Machine, what would it take to convince you to leave your room? The themes of The Machine Stops touch on many of today’s biggest challenges with themes like climate change, dependence on technology, the troubling aspects of social media, isolation and the rise of artificial intelligence.
The audience experience was designed for two levels. One fully interactive VR participant, central to the narrative, as seen in this video. Then, for other audience members to act as Machine Committee and affect the story through group actions, both in VR or on a 2D screen.
The design of The Machine Stops was inspired by science fiction and architecture of the 1960s and 1970s like 2001, as well as newer sci-fi movies like THX 1138 and The Cube.
As the interactive theatre audience member you play the role of Kuno, a character largely based on the character from the original book. They are unhappy with the world of the machine and want to escape. Concept art by Rikke Jansen.
The book called for a subterranean structure of pods linked with miles and miles of corridors. For the VRChat prototype I designed a smaller world consisting of a common space, called the vomitorium, and a curved corridor called the ambulatorium linking six pods.
The pod has a “floating” floor freed from the walls with an angled bed and a “bathroom” area on opposite sides. Machinery and storage for food and clothing are stored beneath the floor and are not visible in the prototype.
In the original text there is mention of a book that plays a significant role as a ‘bible’ or sorts for all things in the machine world. We created a 3D version and placed it prominently on a pedestal in the pod for our interactive prototype.
A 360 panoramic image of the pod, captured from within VRChat. The pod is essentially the home of every citizen in The Machine Stops, created to serve every need of its inhabitants apart from physical interaction.
The pod is supposed to contain everything you need; a bed, a cleaning station, and most importantly - the chair in which you sit all day to consume media and interact with others via a screen.
For this project I was the production designer and architect, art director, 3D artist, developer and producer. The prototype was created in Unity and VRChat with simple interactions triggering various videos and sound effects.
You can visit The Machine Stops world in VRChat yourself using a Quest or PC VR headset using this link:
https://vrchat.com/home/launch?worldId=wrld_945cf1a1-31e7-4049-9183-e3072d7674e6