b'gins and ends. Some persuasive arguments claimIn societies where we surrender our data, in order that as the terms live and mediatized haveto use technologies which construct our sense of arguably grown closer and closer together, we areself and relationships, this desire for control is in fact all already mediatized (Parker-Starbuck,perhaps why so many the enjoy the interactive 2011:9), as social media accounts allow for thenarratives of modern video games, as they allow fictional presentations of the self through screensthe player a safe space to exert control over their and collected data. Therefore, when an actor putsdigital lives through dangerous or fantastical on a motion capture suit, the digital figure pro- fiction. Like the cyborg, the uncanny emerges duced may be one of a plethora of many virtualthrough confused of distorted relationships, as identities granted by modern technology, indi- performance isnt in anything, but between cating that the mediatisation of their body began(Schechner, 2013:30), highlighting how ourAPS Physics (2008) This Month in Physics History, October 1958: long ago. Furthermore, Detroit: Become Human hasengagement with the virtual world results fromPhysicist Invents First Video Game. 17(9). been sold to millions of people, so even thoughits capacity to offer us the interactive, physical,Freud, S. (2003) The Uncanny. Translated by McLintock, D. the live mediatisation of the actor may havepolitical or social freedom we may not have in theNew York: Penguin Books, pp. 123-159. stopped in the development process, millions ofreal world. The players choices matter in Detroit: virtual avatars remain eternally ready to be con- Become Human, as the user-controlled charactersGiannachi, G. (2004) Virtual Theatres : An Introduction. London: trolled live by the player in the millions of copiescan be killed if the player makes multiple severeRoutledge. of the game, displaying the powerful, omnipotentmistakes, such as when the deviant android,Haraway, D. (1991) A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technolo-capacities of cyborg performance.Kara, escapes her abusive human owner. Notgy, and Socialist Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century, only would this erase that character from furtherIn Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature, New Whilst motion capture helps to construct thegameplay, but it can also impact the other char- York: Routledge, pp.149-181. movement of the actors body, there are manyacters later in the game when the protagonists more details that need to be manually edited in,plotlines intertwine. Therefore, this game is anJentsch, E. (1997) On the psychology of the uncanny in order to create human-like figures. Therefore,evolving piece of cyborg performance, constantly(1906), Angelaki: Journal of Theoretical Humanities, 2(1), pp. 716. the game designers have a large role in the pres- re-creating itself based on the live input from theMori, M. (2012) The Uncanny Valley, Energy, 7(4), pp. entation of the characters, and could be consid- player. As a result, both playwrights and game de- 3335. Translated from the original Japanese by K. F. Mac-ered actors, collaborating with the cast throughvelopers do not produce the tangible stimuli thatDorman, N. Kageki. the hypersurface of their computer screen. Thisany given audience will experience, but insteadParker, J. R. (2013) Games are art: Video games as theatri-kind of performance could be considered codifiedproduce what might loosely be described as acal performance, IEEE International Games Innovation Confer-acting, as the animators and game developers willblueprint for performances (Saltz, 1997:118). Con- ence, pp. 203208. have to know the specific vocabulary and gram- sequently, performances which are submerged in mar of a particular codified system (Schechner,a state of constant reconstruction, such as Detroit:Parker-Starbuck, J. (2011) Cyborg Theatre: Corporeal/Technologi-2013:174) in order to program how the charactersBecome Human, are both inherently cyborgean andcal Intersections in Multimedia Performance. Basingstoke: Palgrave look, move, and act. Both theatrical and com- uncanny, as they remain fragmented, unfamiliarMacmillan. puterised coding are performative, however, acode, until pieced together by the live organicQuantic Dream (2018) Detroit: Become Human [Video game]. theatrical code system is often conveyed onstage,body, which transforms them into a more famil- Sony Interactive Entertainment. whilst computerised code manifests itself throughiar, coherent, and comprehensible experience. Quantic Dream (2020) Detroit: Become HumanPerformance the hypersurface. Similarly, plays can also beCapture. 6 July. Available at: https://youtu.be/Pg_x5HikcTk considered algorithms, as they are a step by step[Accessed: 2 April 2022]. description of a process (Parker, 2013:205), high-lighting the similarities between video games andSaltz, D. Z. (1997) The Art of Interaction: Interactivity, theatrical performance. Furthermore, cyborg per- Performativity, and Computers, The Journal of Aesthetics and formance is also processual, becoming throughArt Criticism, 55(2), pp. 117127. its integrations (Parker-Starbuck, 2011:39), dueSantos, V. D. and Valdivieso, H. (2021) The Contemporary to the evolving relationships our bodies have withCyborg: A Semiotic Approach to Digital Hybridization, developing technology. Therefore, as code is aTechne: Research in Philosophy & Technology, 25(2), pp. 195207. form of communicative technology, many forms ofSchechner, R. & Brady, S. (2013) Performance Studies : An theatre, and all video games, toy with or directlyIntroduction. Oxford: Routledge. confront our cyborgean dependence on cultural and digital systems, software and programs whichTinwell, A. (2014) The Uncanny Valley in Games and Animation. provide us with both more and less control over1st edition. Boca Raton: CRC Press. our personal lives and environments. 72 73'