Moving Digits: Augmented Dance for Engaged Audience aims to enhance audience understanding and engagement in contemporary dance performances, and to allow to experience dance in an augmented way (even after the performance). The project also aims to empower dancers, choreographers and technicians with further tools for expression, archival and analysis. The project is a partnership between Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute (M-ITI, Portugal – Lead Partner), Hochschule Düsseldorf (HSD, Germany) and Sõltumatu Tantsu Lava (STL, Estonia). Plux (Portugal), Tanzhaus NRW (Germany) and University of Greenwich (UK) are associated partners. The project has a duration of 2 years, starting 1st October 2018.
To achieve these aims, we propose to use different digital techniques and artistic approaches to visualize information from dancers – specifically, physiological and movement information. On body, sensors will be used to retrieve physiological information from the dancers, such as muscular, cardio, and brain wave activity. In space, motion tracking will also capture dancer movement information from multiple perspectives.
Dancer information will be visualized and shown to the audience using Mixed Reality (MR) techniques – the information will be presented surrounding the dancer, following her/him, and enhancing his/her presence on stage. This visualization will be not only informative, but also artistic, integrating with the overall scenography approach. Sound will also be used to convey dancer information. This information will be accessible after the event via Virtual Reality (VR) visualization – for audiences and dance artists.
We will develop these solutions with a participatory design perspective: in several events; working with contemporary dance professionals from different countries; with different types of audiences; aiming to achieve more inclusive and internationally applicable results. These solutions will be made available to the dance community, as easy to use open-source software. We will also publish theoretical conclusions.
With this project, audiences will be able to feel more empathy with the dancers, and get “under their skin”, gaining an increased understanding of their physical state and movement. We aim not only to enhance the experience of existing dance audiences, but also to attract new audiences. The project will also lead to a better understanding and documentation of movement in dance.
Links:
Project no. 597398-CREA-1-2018-1-PT-CULT-COOP1, co-funded by Creative Europe – Culture Sub-programme, 2018 – Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) of the European Union.
Additional support by ARDITI (Agência Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação Tecnologia e Inovação): references FDCTI-RAM 2018-9 and FDCTI-RAM 2019-8.