Bogglevision is a live 3D illusions that allow virtual objects to float in space and interact live with anything that happens in the auditorium. The system is being tried out this week by the Birmingham Stage Company, in the UK.

Historical figures and events are to be brought to life in stagings for children based on the Horrible History books by Terry Deary. Audiences will see portraits of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I hover above their heads and find themselves dodging cannon-balls and pieces of wood when a ship of the Spanish Armada is struck.

The objects come right at the audience, fooling the brain into believing they are real.

3D technology currently used in the theatre is pre-recorded so every show is identical. Bogglevision, developed by Teesside company Amazing Interactives, allows the technology to adapt to whatever happens on the night.

In Horrible Histories, as characters on stage search for a missing book, a member of the audience is asked their name and sees it appear instantly in a 3D book that suddenly floats, dancing in space, in front of them.

The technology, run through a laptop, allows up to 60 set changes. Members of the audience wear special polarised glasses, which resemble ordinary spectacles rather than the red and green cardboard ones.

Via The Times.