Parsifal FAQ

“AR” is the abbreviation for “Augmented Reality” and means “extended reality”. AR belongs to the immersive technologies and thus enables immersion in new, virtual worlds. With augmented reality, the environment is overlaid with digital images and the real stage space is expanded. You follow the production on stage, while at the same time the entire space in front of and next to the stage is digitally extended and played upon.

AR glasses can be adjusted in the foyer on Parsifal performance days from 11am to 2pm, on other performance days from 10am to 12pm and from 2 hours before the start of the performance in the Festival ticket office. For members of the Society of Friends of Bayreuth, adjustments can be made on performance days from 10 am to 2 pm at their office. The adjustment takes about 5 minutes, please have your AR ticket ready. During the fitting, nosepieces and, if necessary, corrective lenses are inserted and checked.
We recommend that you arrive on time, as the fitting must be completed by 2 pm.

There will be a separate pre-admission for guests wearing AR glasses from 3:15pm to 3:30pm via the stair towers on the left and right, after which the doors will remain closed until the entire audience is admitted to the hall at 3:45pm. There will be a multilingual AR introduction for you in the auditorium from 3:30 to 3:45. During this introduction, you will be able to familiarize yourself with the AR glasses at your seat, receive brief instructions, and our service staff will be available to answer any questions. If necessary, you can leave the room again briefly after the AR introduction.

The transparent projection surface is built into the AR glasses, so the digital image is projected very close to your eye while you can simultaneously follow the real stage action in the distance. The AR glasses can therefore not be worn together with existing personal glasses, but the use of contact lenses is recommended. Without correction, the use of AR glasses is unfortunately not possible in cases of severe nearsightedness with values above -8 dpt, as well as in cases of severe farsightedness, severe astigmatism and high angle refractive error or strabismus. Nearsightedness in the range of -1.0 dpt to -8.0 dpt (in steps of 0.5 dpt) can be compensated by corrective lenses inserted by us into the AR glasses.

Your AR glasses are provided pre-configured and disinfected at your seat. You do not need to pick them up or carry them with you and do not need to make any settings on the AR glasses. Your AR glasses are located to the left (facing the stage) of your seat between the rows of seats in a black bag. Please handle your AR glasses with care and avoid touching the transparent lenses on the front and inside, as the AR glasses are very sensitive. The inserted correction lenses are only magnetically fixed and can fall out if bumped harder. We recommend to adjust the nosepiece well to increase the wearing comfort, for this purpose the rubberized wings can be bent slightly outward and inward. Please do not pass the AR glasses to your seat neighbors or to people in the row in front of you. It is possible to stand up with AR glasses, for example, to let other guests get to their seat. If necessary, you can also take off your AR glasses during the performance or put them back in the bag provided. However, you cannot turn off the AR glasses. The glasses will be calibrated at the beginning of each elevator. For this purpose, please put on the AR glasses shortly before the start of each elevator, at the latest when the hall lights dim; there will be no further instructions for this. To calibrate the AR glasses, please look at the stage in a straight line for about 1 minute after opening the main curtain. If you take your AR glasses off for a longer period of time, they may need to be recalibrated. This can also take place during the performance, please look towards the stage for a few minutes for this. The AR glasses are disinfected using UV-C radiation and ultrasonic cleaning before each performance. The images in the AR glasses are not always just directly in front of you. The AR Parsifal is an immersive experience, so elements can also be next to you, below you, and above you and not visible at first. If you have taken off your AR glasses, a new calibration is required and the elements in the AR glasses may be slightly shifted. If your AR glasses do not consistently show images during the performance, this is not a technical defect. Dramaturgically, there will be moments when no images are visible or they start behind you.

Yes, however, we cannot then guarantee an optimal AR experience, as we then equip the AR glasses with a standard configuration. Thus, you can still see the “AR Parsifal”, but the field of view might be slightly restricted because the AR glasses sit too high or too low on your nose. Even after the 1st elevator, there is still the possibility to make necessary adjustments.
Since we customize a large number of AR glasses we would ask you to perceive the personalization in advance to ensure an optimal AR experience.

Due to the built-in technology, the AR glasses have a slightly higher weight than conventional glasses, so there may be a slight pressure on the nose. If you experience dizziness or discomfort, we recommend that you take off the AR glasses for a moment.