Dance Like the Machine’s Watching

We are proposing an investigation of techniques and technologies to support media-enhanced group performances that integrate different performative art forms (dance, theatre, clown, voice, choral) with responsive mixed reality technologies and public data sets. We will work with a group of young performers (13-17 years old) and a local Vancouver choreographer to deeply investigate, with embodied methods, the potential ways of creating a group performance that truly benefits from a layered digital reality. Several interim performances will be held to gather feedback from audiences at venues to be determined. A larger final public performance will be scheduled near the end of the internship. We expect the knowledge gained from this investigation will inform performers/choreographers who want to integrate mixed reality into a performance lexicon, and will inspire more technologists to target creative expression as a goal in machine learning and interaction design. The results will also be indicative of new cultural expressions that will be made possible when augmented reality technologies are ubiquitous and integrated into public spaces of all kinds.

Faculty Supervisor:

Maria Lantin

Student:

José Castelán Ibarra

Partner:

Microsoft Canada

Discipline:

Medicine

Sector:

Media and communications

University:

Emily Carr University of Art and Design