HTC VIVE Arts Enters Cannes, Virtual Fingertips Dance with Real Piano Keys

The Taiwan-UK-France co-production "Dancing with Fire: Yuja Wang's Piano Art Immersion Exhibition," supervised by HTC VIVE Arts, has been nominated for the Immersive Competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Producer Nien-Yi Oung explained that its "mixed reality" technology allows the virtual pianist's fingertips to perfectly align with the keys of a real, self-playing piano. The work is set to be exhibited in Shanghai and London. The installation features a real Steinway piano in the center of a 450-square-meter projection space. The piano automatically plays a pre-recorded piece by Chinese-American pianist Yuja Wang, while a head-mounted display shows a virtual image of Wang playing, transforming the space into a fire-themed virtual world. The project will tour globally, heading to the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in June and London's Southbank Centre in September.