How Are We Connected? - Measuring Audience Galvanic Skin Response of Connected Performances

Accurately measuring the audience response during a performance is a difficult task. This is particularly the case for connected performances. In this paper, we staged a connected performance in which a remote audience enjoyed the performance in real-time. Both objective (galvanic skin response and behaviours) and subjective (interviews) responses from the live and remote audience members were recorded. To capture galvanic skin response, a group of self-built sensors was used to record the electrical conductance of the skin. The results of the measurements showed that both the live and the remote audience members had a similar response to the connected performance even though more vivid artistic artefacts had a stronger effect on the live audience. Some technical issues also influenced the experience of the remote audience. In conclusion we found that the remoteness had little influence on the connected performance.