Many intriguing developments are taking place in the hi-tech fashion and wearable clothing arena. In this post, I include videos that highlight the latest trends in digital and interactive fashions and point to blogs and other resources so that you can learn more about this topic. I hope this post serves as a helpful springboard for dancers looking to experiment with wearable clothing and accessories. And I would like to hear from dancers who have incorporated interactive fashions into their performances.
The Seamless Computational Couture fashion show took place this past January at the Boston Museum of Science. Here are video highlights from this wearable event:
Other events that focus on the intersection of fashion and technology include the Smart Fabrics 2008 conference (May 5-7, 2008) in Charleston, South Carolina. And the TechnoThreads exhibition (April 26-July 26, 2008) in Dublin, Ireland.
Fashion Designer Angel Chang
Here's a news story about the hi-tech fashions of Angel Chang:
In my blogroll for The Kinetic Interface (see right-hand column), I link to four blogs that cover trends and developments in wearables and high-tech fashions:
The Chanel Contemporary Art Container Opens in Hong Kong
It will be interesting to see what innovative approaches are taken to site-specific dance-making as we see a growth in new organic, mobile, sustainable and responsive architectural forms. I'll be writing about these different architectural structures and looking for examples of dance works created for these environments.
Chanel's Contemporary Art Container
In February Chanel launched an international tour of its futuristic, mobile art exhibit pavilion designed by architect Zaha Hadid (Wikipedia profile). The excellent Chanel Mobile Art website features extensive exterior and interior tours of this curved, organic structure that is now in Hong Kong and will eventually travel to the US and Europe.
Watch an external and internal rendering of the Chanel Contemporary Art Container:
Video footage of the exterior taken the day the exhibit opened on February 27th in Hong Kong:
Artist statement about the art container (I'm not sure who is speaking):
Read a write-up with pictures from the Hong Kong Hustle blog about a visitor's experience visiting the Art Container.
Will Muscle and Musical Memory Inform New Interface Designs?
Summary: Over many years of practice, dancers hone their muscle and rhythmic memories. They can watch extended dance sequences and often perform what they've just seen demonstrated after a single viewing...As new movement-based interfaces increasingly permeate the environments in which we live and work, will muscle and rhythmic memory become an important skill for successfully interacting with and responding to our digital surroundings? And what insights do dance-makers have about the challenges and possibilities of these human-computer interactions?
--------------------
I've always been impressed by the muscle and rhythmic memories of dancers. When I started taking jazz and modern dance classes, my body simply could not remember a series of moves that were demonstrated by a teacher. But after about two years, my body seemed to develop a magical capacity to watch and then perform movement phrases. I'm still very much a beginner dancer, but it does feel good to be able to replicate sequences that I've just seen performed for the first time moments before.
In this video interview with choreographer Mark Morris, you can watch company members rehearse for "Mozart Dances," and get a glimpse of the highly developed rhythmic and muscle memory abilities of professional dancers:
I also encourage you to watch this related Mark Morris video, "Taking Sides."
When TV show host Ellen DeGeneres visited the dancers of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at their studio on 55th Street and 9th avenue here in Manhattan (a great place to take dance classes), she has fun with the talented dancers knowing that they can instantly watch and then "playback" her dance moves:
Last week for the fourth episode of the new reality TV dance show "Step It Up & Dance, the contestants had to quickly learn the challenging rhythmic patterns taught by the cast members of Stomp Out Loud:
Also, watch this clip from last week's Step It Up & Dance rehearsal with the Stomp crew as the dancers learn to do a trashcan lid routine.
Digital Interfaces Based on Muscle and Rhythmic Memory
What's interesting about muscle memory (remembering and playing back physical movements over time) and rhythmic memory (remembering and playing back sound patterns over time) is that they are both time-based. In other words, no value is derived by freezing the action or sound at a single point in time.
If you take a look at my video guide to digital interfaces, you'll notice that the movement of your body does control these digital tools and software applications. But in most cases there is only a one-to-one relationship between a specific movement and a response to that movement.
In this demonstration of a gesture-controlled robot, one movement of the user controls either the specific direction or rotation of the robot:
The demonstration of the "Shadow Reaching" technology is a bit more interesting. If you jump to the 47-second mark in the below video, you'll see how Shadow Reaching can be used to move objects on a large-screen display. You'll see that it takes three actions of the user (grab, drag and release) to complete the process of moving an object across the screen. I don't know the specifics of the software, but I'd imagine that each action "grab," "drag" and "release" is viewed as a discrete event by the program. But the overall effort of changing the position of an object does have the feel of a movement routine.
Questions for interaction designers and dance-makers:
- As digital interfaces become more complex and pervasive, will they begin to accept input in the form of movement and rhythmic patterns? (There may be examples out there already that I'd like to learn about).
- What types of interfaces might rely on this type of time-based input?
- How specifically would we control interfaces that used movement and rhythmic patterns?
- What insights can be learned about controlling these interfaces from dancers and others whose artistic work is based on the mastery of muscle and rhythmic memory? And,
- What are examples of dance works that have relied upon movement patterns to control interactive environments that are incorporated into a performance?
How Tango Dancers Would "Walk" in Virtual Landscapes
Developers participating in the CyberWalk Project have created an omni-directional platform for simulating natural walking movements in virtual worlds.
Here's a video (no audio) that shows a user outfitted with a harness and goggles as she walks on this omni-directional treadmill to explore a virtual landscape:
In a recent blog post about CyberWalk, Roland Piquepaille points out that "Even with recent improvements in virtual reality technology, it's still almost impossible to physically walk through virtual environments." So this omni-directional treadmill represents important on-going research into how to capture the essence of human locomotion and port it to 3D immersive environments.
Tango Dancers Shed Light on the Art of Walking
Tango dancing is all about "walking" or the "Caminada." Tangueros devote years to practicing and perfecting their walk. After just finishing my first four months of obsessive tango dancing, I'm struck by how difficult and challenging it is to develop a fluid, elegant walking style.
So it struck me that maybe there is some synergy to be found by bringing together developers of virtual-world walking systems with tango dancers who have created a variety of approaches to "walking" in different settings.
While watching the following seven tango dance videos that emphasize walking, I encourage viewers to consider the different aesthetics, movement patterns, weight changes, musicality and styles. Which of these elements can and cannot be captured on an omni-directional treadmill? Does the "walk" of tango dancers offer treadmill developers new ideas or insights about how they would like users to be able to navigate through virtual environments? And how will these treadmills capture the movements of two people simultaneously as in partnership dancing?
Enjoy the following videos as you consider these questions:
"Tango Italiano" with Shastro and Maria:
Tango by Julio Balmaceda and Corina de la Rosa:
Candida Andritsch and Jose Vazquez dancing in a fountain:
Pablo Rodriguez and Noelia Hurtado at Brussels Tango Festival '08:
"Perdizione" - Tango dancing in a supermarket:
Dario's Tango Guide - El Abrazo (Embrace) and Caminada (Walking):
How Might Dancers Contribute to the Movements of Autonomous Robots?
Summary: Germany-based Festo has created autonomous robots based on the structure and movement of jellyfish. The videos below highlight the elegant shapes and propulsion system of these digital creations. How might choreographers and dancers contribute to the movements and communication patterns of such artificial life forms that mimic biological processes? At the end of this post, I ponder this question while watching a wonderful video about choreographer Luciana Achugar that I highly recommend.
---------------------
AcquaJelly and AirJelly, from Germany-based Festo, are autonomous robots that are based on the "structure and kinematics" of "their biological model, the jellyfish." (Source)
I'd like to quote a bit from the write-up about AquaJelly. I'm struck by how the creative explorations of dancers dovetail with the characteristics and capabilities of this autonomous robot. Phrases below such as "wave-like contractions," "controlled by shifting its weight," and "act like a shoal with the behavior pattern of a more highly developed system" jump-out at me. What would happen if a group of choreographers and dancers joined with the robot's creators in a dance studio and did some experimentations? What types of exercises and explorations would actually take place? And what would result from such a cross-disciplinary collaboration? I think the end result could be quite beneficial and might lead to some intriguing insights.
Here's the technical passage:
AquaJelly is an artificial autonomous jellyfish with an electric drive and an intelligent, adaptive mechanical system...It moves with the aid of a peristaltic propulsion system, or wave-like contractions, based on the reaction thrust principle used by its biological precursor. The motion of the AquaJelly in three-dimensional environments is controlled by shifting its weight... When a pendulum moves in a certain direction, the centre of gravity of the jellyfish changes in this direction.
Each jellyfish decides autonomously which action to carry out on the basis of its current condition. This central electric drive, combined with an adaptive mechanical system and intelligent autonomous electronics, opens up possible new applications for self-controlling systems. If a large number of AquaJellies were equipped with communicative abilities, these could act like a shoal with the behavior pattern of a more highly developed system. If one applies this principle to automation, then numerous autonomous or semi-autonomous intelligent systems might be able to work together. In this way, large problems could be solved by small systems working together in harmony.
Luciana Achugar on the Possibilities of Robotic Movement
It strikes me that dance-makers like Achugar would bring an artistic approach, sensibility and curiosity that would be invaluable to the growing number of researchers and developers exploring new forms of technologically-driven movement.
(By the way, I don't know Achugar and I don't know if she or the folks at Festo would have any interest whatsoever in such a collaboration. I just like to give specific illustrations of what I have in mind in order to provide concrete examples of what might be possible).
A video demonstration of the AirStrike technology:
The closest I've come to seeing holograms in a dance setting is when I wrote about the holographic image of Kate Moss that was projected on the runway of the 2006 Ready-to-Wear fashion show in Paris.
Here's a good video clip from this fashion show so you can see the hologram in action [via Fresh Creation]:
I would appreciate learning about dancers and other artists who are working with holograms.
Commissioning Dancers Through "Movement Score" Initiative
SUMMARY: In this post, I introduce the concept of a "Movement Score," which is similar to a music score but focuses instead on movement for dancers. You'll find three video examples of Movement Scores, each of which is followed by a video response in the form of dance, kinetic sculpture and graffiti art.
The end of the post is devoted to an exploration of a new Movement Score initiative through which companies in scientific, technological and other fields can commission choreographers and dancers to create dance works in response to their body-centric and movement-centric products, offerings and research.
---------------------------
In March, Matt Gough posted a video of an improvisational dance he did in response to an audio movement score shared by Nancy Garcia. I've been inspired by this online collaboration ever since.
One of the objectives of The Kinetic Interface blog is to foster interdisciplinary conversations that bring dancers together with people in many different fields. Movement scores, which are the dance equivalent of music scores, offer an excellent means of enabling people with expertise in different disciplines to quickly visualize shared interests and passions from different perspectives.
Movement Scores in Action
Here's an example: The video below from Front Design features an example of the rapid prototyping of furniture designs. The first section of the video shows designers drawing in a 3D space and the outlines of the shapes are captured by a motion capture system:
If the above video were a movement score, then the following video from graffiti artist DAIM could be considered a response. In the case of this video, an augmented reality system is used, but the approach to drawing in a 3D space is similar to the furniture design clip above:
Shape-Shifting Robots and Pilobolus
Here's another example of a movement score and a possible response:
The following video presents a prototype of miniature shape-shifting robots that can be converted instantly into any type of product:
The dance company Pilobolus provides the perfect response in their Life Shapes Hyundai commercial:
Robots and Kinetic Sculpture
And for a third and final example of Movement Scores in action, here's the Big Dog robot from Boston Dynamics:
And a possible imaginary response from kinetic sculpture Theo Jansen:
Movement Score Commissions and Competitions
As I start to reach out to people in many fields who are exploring body-centric and movement-centric research and product development (see my 16 video examples to learn more about the industries I'll be covering), I'll be encouraging interaction designers, technologies, scientists and others to support choreographers and dancers through commissioned and competition-based Movement Score programs.
In other words, I think that companies in many fields will benefit in a number of ways (see below) by supporting dancers in the creation of dance videos that respond to specific movement scores.
To offer a possible example: A company that is developing a movement or gesture-based computer interface could create a movement score in which they demonstrate their product and then ask dancers to develop a response that offers highly creative alternative movement vocabularies for controlling their interface. If the company were offering a commission-based program, I would work with them to identify and hire the agreed upon number of dancers (say anywhere from 3 to 10). And then the dancers would create their dance video responses by a specified date.
These movement score programs could be developed in many different ways. They could be based on commissioning work for dancers or they could follow a competition model that is currently popular on the Internet. They could be either more commercial or artistic in nature. And they could focus on one style of dance or they could incorporate many different genres. So the above illustration is just one path that might be taken.
Overall, I think companies that support this Movement Score initiative would benefit in important ways:
1) Dance on TV and the Internet is incredibly popular (see background page "The Popularity of Dance Continues to Grow at Rapid Pace"). So the Movement Score video responses from dancers would likely generate a large number of online viewers.
2) New developments, especially in the scientific and technological arena, are not always easy for people to grasp. Dance can help make new product introductions and related offerings easier to understand and appreciate.
3) Dancers are experts in the art of movement and can help companies and researchers better understand new and alternative ways that their products can be used. And,
4) Companies that participate in this Movement Score initiative are given an opportunity to support dance artists who are pursing their craft in an innovative way via the Internet.
In September 2005, I started the Great Dance blog (now it is called Dancing into the Future). The primary focus of this earlier blog was to encourage dancers and dance companies to embrace the Internet, blogs, videos and related tools in order to enhance their marketing, community-building, revenue generation and creative possibilities. These developments have largely taken place, and I'm delighted that I've played a role in conjunction with many others in educating dancers about the advantages and possibilities of the online world.
Now it's time to move in new directions:
The Kinetic Interface blog on Great Dance starts with the premise that by focusing on the body and movement we can better understand, engage with, and contribute to many of the technological and scientific changes that are reshaping our daily lives.
What I've found fascinating and a bit stunning after about two to three months of research is the extent to which the body, movement, gesture and motion are at the heart of many recent developments in science and technology.
As a starting point, I'd like to encourage readers to visit the Movement Is at the Heart of Scientific and Technological Change background page. Here you will find 16 videos (plus links to more videos) that show in very concrete terms how new computer interfaces and digital devices being used in a range of fields are, in essence, body-centric and movement-centric.
This focus on what is essentially the livelihood of choreographers and dancers (the creative exploration of movement) has some very important and beneficial ramifications for the dance community. I describe these opportunities in the About Page for The Kinetic Interface blog. And I'll recap these new possibilities here:
New consulting opportunities for dancers
Expanded audiences for dance
Integration of dance and movement into many disciplines outside of the arts, and
New online and offline revenue for dancers
Much more to come as I continue to provide background about my new blog over the coming days.
In the meantime, please feel free to email me with questions and feedback.
