Digital Catapult > Case studies > Unwired Dance Theatre advances accessibility for immersive performances

Case Study

Unwired Dance Theatre advances accessibility for immersive performances

Enabling interactive productions to reach wider audiences

Great progress has been made in increasing accessibility within theatres, but as yet there are no recognised guidelines for immersive formats, where every performance and experience is unique. To explore accessibility for their immersive and interactive production, Where We Meet, Unwired Dance Theatre wanted to engage with experts in immersive technology and a network of local partners interested in access and inclusivity. Making the show more accessible would enable them to tour their production and perform to more people.

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Unwired chose to work with the Digital Catapult team at to explore different creative solutions for access, and to obtain support in engaging with the local community for testing. We provided Unwired Dance Theatre with the right space and connected them with the right networks for their research in the North East, ensuring they had the resources and audiences needed to be able to move the dial in immersive accessibility.

Unlike traditional theatre, immersive work has no clear blueprints for access.

Focusing on accessibility in three areas

Where We Meet mixes dance with spatial audio, and enables audience members to be involved in one of two ways:

As an ‘immersive explorer’, equipped with headphones and a location tracker, choosing which characters to listen to by moving closer or further away. They are invited to take part in optional interactions with the dancers, sharing grounding exercises.
As a ‘compassionate observer’, equipped with headphones and a tablet interface to simulate movement within the space, enabling them to listen to the inner worlds of the characters from a comfortable location.

Funded by Arts Council England, Unwired Dance Theatre’s project explored accessibility, across three areas.

d/Deaf and H
As Where We Meet is an audio-centric experience, it would be inaccessible for these audiences, in its original form. Unwired wanted to create an equitable experience that enabled the intended sense of intimacy and connection.
Sensory experience and consent
The performance involves a variety of sensory stimuli, and early feedback identified this element as being a barrier to access. The interactions encourage audiences to get close and touch, bringing up questions of consent.
Mobility
The audience members who choose to be immersive explorers would move around for 30 minutes in a space also being used by dancers and other audience members, leading to potential access barriers.

Researching needs and devising accessibility solutions

Digital Catapult connected the Unwired team with Signpost and other d/Deaf, neurodivergent and hard-of-hearing groups. Being able to reach these local audiences meant that they were able to hold two workshops with disabled participants – an important part of their R&D project at AMP.

The first workshop focused on solutions for d/Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing people, and tested different approaches to dynamic captioning, as well as hearing aid compatibility using T-drive and Bluetooth™. The second was for neurodiverse participants, exploring the end-to-end access journey, from identifying the information that needed to be provided ahead of time to understanding the sensory challenges that the performance could present.

Unwired also held a consulting session with Kate Stanforth, Mobility Access Consultant; a workshop on accessibility in immersive with local makers and practitioners; and two performances of ‘Where We Meet’ for local audiences, partners and communities.

The Digital Catapult team has been extremely supportive throughout. The biggest impact has been through connecting us with local communities. We didn’t have any existing network in Newcastle and in the region – the AMP team has been fantastic with getting us in touch with local partners.

This has been instrumental for organising sessions with disabled participants and identifying people to engage with – it’s made a significant difference.
Clemence Debaig Artistic Director, Unwired Dance Theatre

The Unwired team gathered insights that gave them clear direction for the next steps, including the final shape of the dynamic captions and what the overall access journey needed to look like. This process allowed them to integrate tangible access modalities into the show, including:

Access information, visual story and onboarding
Dynamic captioning on hand-held devices (with armbands and neck mounts available, and other options still being explored)
Options for compatibility with hearing aids and/or sensory needs (such as hearing loop, Bluetooth™ connectivity, wired headphones)
Room layout and movement adjustments for wheelchair users and audiences with reduced mobility
Seated option with interaction on tablet

The workshop with practitioners also produced valuable insights into current concerns and blockers for practitioners who want to address access in their immersive work.

Creating a positive impact across the creative industry

Unwired Dance Theatre has shared their access toolkit and research learnings from this project, encouraging other creators to make their experiences more accessible. There have been over 500 toolkit downloads of the toolkit so far, evidencing the high level of interest in resources that support access within the creative industry.

Venues can be risk-averse when programming immersive or technology-heavy productions. Now, when they see the work Unwired has done on access, they are much more receptive, understanding that this is not going to be a blocker, and that the show is probably going to perform well with a wide range of audiences.

The project has helped Unwired Dance Theatre elevate their profile as a leader in their field, resulting in consulting work for other companies and artists wanting to apply the methodology used for Where We Meet.

When looking at the immersive arts landscape in the UK and beyond, there is so little thought given to access and there are so few access productions available. And often is it because people don’t know where to start… This work is incredibly important for demystifying what that process could look like.
Clarice Hilton Researcher and Creative Technologist

The team at AMP took such great care of us while we were there! There is a natural alignment of technology, expertise and values that will make AMP Studios a go-to partner in the future.

The versatility of the space was a real asset for the project – it is very accessible. Being able to welcome our audiences with access needs in the space was crucial for this project, and having the capability to reshape the space to our needs was fantastic. We left with very little left to do from a development point of view, which was a fantastic outcome.
Clemence Debaig Artistic Director, Unwired Dance Theatre

About Unwired Dance Theatre

Unwired Dance Theatre creates immersive, playable experiences across virtual, remote, and real-world spaces. Blending choreography with cutting-edge tech – from wearables to XR – the company explores empathy, connection, and embodiment. With meaningful participation at its core, Unwired invites audiences into thought-provoking worlds where dance and technology work together in the most unexpected ways.

https://www.unwireddancetheatre.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/unwireddancetheatre/