Asymmetric Performance in Virtual Reality and Code

Virtual reality enables a rich 3D user experience where immediate feedback can yield lively interactions. For live coding, however, the
rigid, text-based nature of source code is still a serious impediment to achieving such experience, as text input in virtual reality is
significantly slower than on a physical keyboard. We present an asymmetric live-coding environment, in which a performance
can benefit from both the fluid and flexible direct manipulation capabilities of virtual reality and the expressive power of text-based code. Here, one performer interacts with parameters and code blocks of the system using their hands in virtual reality, but is ultimately constrained by the code defined by another performer immersed in a dedicated programming and runtime environment with full access to the source of the system. We present a proof-of-concept implementation of such a system and describe future directions for its development.