Capitalised Terms have the meaning defined in Table 1. Non-capitalised terms have the meaning commonly defined for the context in which they are used. For instance, Table 1 defines Object and Scene but does not define object and scene. Therefore the terms object and Object in a sentence refer to a real object and its digital representation.
A dash “-” preceding a Term in in Table 1 means the following depending on whether the font is:
- Normal, the Term in the table without a dash and preceding the one with a dash should be placed before that Term.
- Italic, the Term in the table without a dash and preceding the one with a dash should be placed after that Term.
All terms used by MPAI Standards are defined here.
All MPAI-defined Terms are accessible online.
Table 1 –Terms and Definitions
| Term | Definition |
| Action | |
| – Descriptors | |
| Actuator | A mechanism for modulating an experience in a real or virtual world. |
| AI Module | (AIM) A processing element receiving AIM-specific Inputs and producing AIM-specific Outputs according to according to its Function. An AIM may be an aggregation of AIMs. |
| Association | Metadata that associates measurable elements of the Script (e.g., characters, objects, participants, operator consoles) with data sources specific to the Real and Virtual Venue, as defined by the Qualifiers in the Venue Specification. |
| Audio | Digital representation of an analogue audio signal sampled at a frequency between 8-192 kHz with a number of bits/sample between 8 and 32, and non-linear and linear quantisation. |
| Avatar | A rendered animated 3D digital object representing a real or fictitious person. |
| Biometric Data | Biological data collected from participants or performers including heart rate, electromyographic (EMG) data, skin conductance, etc. |
| Cognitive State | An estimation of the internal status of a human or avatar or a group thereof reflecting their understanding of the Environment, such as: – For a person: “Confused”, “Confident” and “Assured”. – For a group: “my team is going to lose”, or “we are winning”. |
| Controller | A manual control interface for participants, performers, or operators. |
| Cue | Consists of specific Cue Conditions and resulting Cue Actions that are triggered when these conditions are met. |
| – Action | Actions that are triggered when Cue Conditions are met. |
| – Conditions | One or more conditions, as defined by the Performance, Participant, and Operator Statuses upon which the associated Cue Action is executed. |
| – List | A list of all Cues in a Script organised into multiple Acts, which are organised into multiple Scenes, which are organised into multiple Scene Elements that are chronological and inseparable. |
| – Point | A pointer to the current Cue position in the Script that an AIM, operator, or performer uses to generate Action according to the Script. |
| Data | Information in digital form. |
| – Format | The syntax and semantics of Data. |
| Descriptor | Digital representation of a Feature. |
| – Action | Components of the description that are used to create the complete user experience – in both Real and Virtual Environments – in accordance with the script. This includes all aspects of the experience including the performers and objects’ position, orientation, gesture, costume, audio, video, etc. |
| – Extraction | The process that extracts Descriptors from Data. |
| – Generation | The process that generates attributes to be applied to a scene or object according to the Script. |
| – Interpretation | The process that assigns a meaning to Descriptors. |
| – Scene | A Descriptor used to describe a Scene in the Real or Virtual Environment. |
| Dome display | Wrap-around immersive display surrounding an audience, using a projection screen or LED panels, technically known as Spatial Augmented Reality. |
| Emotion | An estimation of the internal status of a human or avatar or a group thereof resulting from their interaction with the Environment, such as: For a person, “Victorious”, “Fearful” and “Angry”. For a group: “Victorious”, “Fearful” and “Disappointed” |
| Environment | A portion of a real or a virtual world. |
| Extended Reality (XR) | Any combination of Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR). |
| Feature | An attribute of an object or a scene in a Real or Virtual Environment. |
| Gesture | A Data Type representing the movement of the body or part of it, such as the head, arm, hand, and finger, often a complement to a vocal utterance. |
| Interpreted Operator Controls | The assignment of meaning of data from control surfaces. |
| LiDAR Data | Data provided by LiDAR, an active time-of-flight sensor operating in the µm range – ultraviolet, visible, or near infrared light (900 to 1550 nm). |
| MoCap | Data capturing the movement of people or objects. |
| Participant | A human in a Real or Virtual Environment (Venue). |
| – Data | Data provided by or collected from Participants. |
| – Data Management | The set of legal, ethical, marketing, maintenance, etc. rules guiding the acquisition, retention, and processing of Data related to and provided by Participants. |
| – Descriptors | Data that describe Participants behaviour in the Rean Environment (including visual, audio, and choice components) and in the Virtual Environment (including Avatar spatial position, motion, and Audio components). |
| – Engagement Engine | Algorithms to engage participants during or after the event allowing social interaction, commerce, and other engagement modalities. |
| – Status | The ensemble of information, expressed by Emotion, Cognitive State and Social Attitude, derived from observing the collective behaviour of participants in a Real and on-line Environment, or in a Virtual Environment. |
| Operator | A rean or virtual human operating manual control consoles, including audio, lighting, video, DJ/VJ and show control. |
| – Descriptors | Data pertaining to all manual control consoles within the Real and Virtual Environment. |
| – Status | Data interpreting all manual control consoles within the Real and Virtual Environment according to the current Cue Point Conditions. |
| Performance | |
| – Descriptors | |
| – Status | |
| Performer | A live actor performing on the Real Environment stage or represented by an avatar in the Virtual Environment. |
| Participant | |
| – Descriptors | |
| – Status | |
| Real Environment | |
| – Action Descriptors | |
| – Command | |
| – Data In | |
| – Data Out | |
| Venue Specification | The specification of the physical venue and all experiential technologies including lighting (fixture type and placement, DMX profile), FX, video displays, acoustics, sound reinforcement, stage props, preset cues and participant interactive devices. |
| Script | A collection of descriptors that the director/producer selects for execution at runtime controlling the action/experience in both Real and Virtual Worlds. |
| Sensor | A mechanism capturing data from a real or virtual Environment. |
| Show | |
| – Control | Externally generated commands from an operator or show control system that pertain to desired Actions in the Real or Virtual Environment |
| – Data | |
| Social Attitude | An element of the internal status related to the way a human or avatar intends to position vis-à-vis the Environment, e.g.: For person: “Confrontational”, “Collaborative” and “Aggressive”. For groups: “Confrontational”, “Collaborative” and “Aggressive” |
| Use Case | A particular instance of the Application domain target of an MPAI Application Standard. |
| Virtual Environment | |
| – Action Descriptors | |
| – Command | |
| – Data In | |
| – Data Out | |
| Virtual Venue Specification | The specification of the virtual venue and all available experiential systems for the delivery of audio, video, 3D environments, preset cues, and participant interactive devices. |
| Volumetric Visual Data | A set of samples representing the value of visual 3D data represented as textured meshes, points clouds, or UV + depth. |
| XR Venue | A combination of Real or Virtual Environments addressed by MPAI-XRV Use Cases. |
