This article explores how immersive technologies can create intimate connections between physically separated people through the telematic performance titled The Zone. The project links two stage spaces—one for a performer and one for an audience member—using advanced technologies including volumetric video, 3D scanning, spatial audio, motion capture, and augmented reality. Developed at the Institute of Computer Music and Sound Technology at the Zurich University of the Arts, these Extended Reality (XR) tools enable what we call hyperintimacy—an enhanced form of connection that transcends physical distance through immersive telepresence. Despite the artificial technological context, participants experience genuine encounters that balance digital mediation with human connection.
The Zone: Hyperintimacy in Telemersive Performance
Benjamin Burger, Patrick Muller, Joel De Giovanni, Martin Frölich, Eric Larrieux, and HannaH Walter. “The Zone: Hyperintimacy in Telemersive Performance.” Journal of Network Music and Arts 7, 1 (2025).
