Video Cams for Contact Improvisation -- Dancing into the Future

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March 3, 2006

Video Cams for Contact Improvisation

I came across this wearable video recording set-up yesterday for less than $600. With this portable kit, you can save video of any events you wish throughout the day with a mini video camera connected to your glasses.

After interviewing Yacov Sharir yesterday about his research into wearables and performance, which can include contact improvisation between a human dancer and a 3D avatar, I thought it would be interesting to equip multiple dancers with these wearable video recording systems.

It would be interesting to get 10 dancers to participate in a contact improvisation experiment. Each dancer would be equipped with a video headcam to record their perspective of the dance. And then after the performance the 10 different video feeds would be made available online for people to watch the performance from each dancer's perspective. I guess there's probably also a way to output the video in real-time via a wireless connection to a projector so that you could switch among the 10 different video feeds as the program was taking place.

Posted by Doug Fox on March 3, 2006 8:18 AM

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4 Comments

matt said:

hi doug,

if you were happy to settle for four cameras you could do this for alot less $. you would be looking at about $91 per camera, and that includes a wireless output with S-video connection.

the camera itself is small and runs from a 9volt battery, so it would be less for the dancer to carry than the pda solution.

i use the kit in class on a projector or tv in realtime. the picture quality is resonably good, but unlike the setup you have posted you need a vcr or video card in you computer to record the video feed.

i tend not to record the feeds as i'm using it as a taching aid / R&D device for a dance for camera and perceptual improvisation modules.

Added: March 3, 2006 10:01 AM | Permalink

Doug Fox said:

Hi Matt,

I guess I was being on ambitious side thinking about a 10 camera set-up.

Do you happen to have a picture of what one of the cameras you use looks like? The camera includes a wireless transmitter?

The difference with the more elaborate system I described is that you can use it anywhere and each dancer can save the entire video feed - but it wouldn't work for transmitting the video in real-time.

Added: March 7, 2006 1:56 PM | Permalink

matt said:

hello doug,

yes, the set-up you describe is more portable, and you need to be careful when using my setup that the cameras you buy transmit on different channels.

Firstly apologies for poor picture quality, I'll take better ones when i have more time. the camera has audio as well as the video and transmits via the short aerial:
http://static.flickr.com/54/109641097_3e02588391_o_d.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/43/109641113_6bd14e84f6_o_d.jpg

the receiver has a range of 200m:
http://static.flickr.com/38/109641096_3b0bf45b63_o_d.jpg

For reference the coin (5 pence) is 18mm diameter. both the camera and receiver can run of a 9volt pp3 battery. when attaching the camera to the body, i use 3M micropore surgical tape to secure the battery, cables and camera body.

I guess i should really make a post in my blog about how i use this as a teaching aid and R+D tool for Dance for camera ...

Added: March 8, 2006 8:58 AM | Permalink

Jimmy Miklavcic said:

Matt, where did you purchase these cameras? Could you please send me a link or an address?

Thanks.

Added: March 10, 2006 6:10 PM | Permalink

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Since 2005, Doug Fox's blog has covered the intersection of dance and the Internet. A primary focus is to help dancers and dance companies use the Internet and their dance videos for marketing, educational, creative and revenue-generation purposes.

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Dancing into the Future

March 3, 2006