Developing A Video Puppet * Cory Einbinder New York City College of Technology n The Service Road by Erin Courtney, a "big headed toddler" plays a key role. Throughout the play, we are unsure if this character is real or a figment of the protagonist's imagination. I designed the Big Headed Toddler to be a fully interactive video puppet. The puppeteer's face is captured live on video and projected onto the face of the puppet. It was critical that there be no loss of time in processing the image as any delay would be apparent and would take away from the immediacy of the scene. One of the design challenges was to provide enough light for the camera to produce a bright image while simultaneously allowing the puppeteer to work in semi-darkness so as not to draw focus from the puppet and not wash out the video image. Figure 1 shows the completed puppet. I developed this puppet while in residency at the New York City College of Technology (CUNY). A team of students helped develop each of the major components of the puppet: a headpiece worn by the puppeteer that supports a mini security camera, an independent infrared lighting source, and the necessary power for these devices; the head of the puppet, creating the head of the puppet was the trickiest part; it needed to be large enough to house the pico projector and have enough space to throw an image one foot high. 38 theatre design & technology s p r i n g 2013