Metabailarín * 2023
Mobile World Congress 2023 (Barcelona, Spain)
Metabailarín (MWC Barcelona 2023) was a large-scale, public-facing XR showcase that fused live performance with real-time networked virtuality, staged at Orange’s booth during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Built as a “technology demonstration” that behaved like an artwork, the experience brought together VR, motion-capture/body tracking, dance, music/DJ energy, and live audience interaction using the dramaturgy of performance to make 5G’s promise felt rather than merely explained.
At the core of the activation was a distributed XR setup enabled by 5G/5G+ low-latency connectivity: four visitors entered the experience from the Orange stand in Barcelona while a fifth participant connected remotely from Orange’s flagship store in Málaga (nearly 1,000 km away), able to trigger events in the shared virtual world from a distance.
A dancer wearing a motion-capture suit performed as a live guide, his movements transmitted in real time to a high-definition avatar, turning the network into something like a nervous system, where gesture becomes signal and signal becomes presence. The collective journey was also projected live on a large curved screen above the stage, extending the experience to onlookers and transforming the booth into a hybrid of theatre, demo-lab, and public spectacle. António Baía Reis contributed as XR Live Performance Designer, helping articulate the artistic and experiential logic that connected the XR dance performance to the event’s context and audience rhythm.
Developed with Orange’s partners Huawei and Virtual Voyagers, the project positioned immersive tech not as a distant future, but as an immediate cultural form, a public demonstration where connectivity, embodiment, and narrative choreography converge into a shared experience.
MEDIA:
https://tynmagazine.com/mwc-2023-orange-propone-un-viaje-al-metaverso/
https://blog.orange.es/noticias/stand-orange-metaverso-mwc-2023/