Behind the Scenes at the Finnish National Opera: XTREME’s on-stage data capture

Last week, the XTREME project carried out a major data capture session at the Finnish National Opera and Ballet, contributing to the development of an upcoming mixed reality experience connected to the opera Morgonstjärnan – The Morning Star, having a world premiere in Helsinki this Friday.

The XTREME capture team — Ane Skak (Immersive Stories), Paul Tennent and Richard Ramchurn (University of Nottingham), and Justyna Starostka (IT University of Copenhagen) — travelled to Helsinki for a rare and demanding opportunity: capturing selected scenes during the first full dress rehearsal. With limited on-stage time, the capture was planned down to the minute, requiring intense focus and coordination from the entire team.

What made this possible was the extraordinary professionalism of the opera singers and technical crew. Our sincere thanks go to the entire Opera team, with special appreciation to Miia Lallukka, Timo Tuovila, and Thomas de Mallet Burgess, Stage Director of the Morgonstjärnan – The Morning Star, for their openness, trust, and collaboration. Warm thanks also to Eero Auvinen who did the sound capture for the scenes and Kalle Rasinkangas for on-site technical support.

The visit also included a special moment: meeting Sebastian Fagerlund, composer of the Morgonstjärnan – The Morning Star, a meaningful highlight for the entire XTREME team.

And this is only the beginning. Next week, a larger XTREME team returns to the Opera for a second capture phase, this time with extended access and a dedicated space, allowing us to push the mixed reality experience even further.

Please visit the Opera’s page to read more details, see the link here.

Stay tuned, more to come soon.

Pictures: Justyna Starostka