Tangible Lighting Proxies: Brokering the Transition from Classroom to Stage

Abstract

Supporting Practice-based vocational skills development in the classroom can be logistically challenging, however tangible interfaces present natural affordances for supporting such skill development. In the context of teaching stage lighting specifically, we present an open source toolkit based around tangible hardware proxies to support the teaching of practice-based skills. Our tangible proxies embody key configuration, interaction and optical properties of real stage equipment. Drawing on notions of representation and bi-directional digital-to-physical transformation, we design a toolkit that specifically supports a gradual transition between virtual, simulated and real equipment during the learning journey, and open the door to embedding stage craft into schools. Through reporting on deployments in two schools, we discuss the affordances of such proxies and their potential for supporting the teaching and learning of practice-based skills in the classroom.