I took a look at an on-line community, Dance-Tech.NET which focuses on the "interdisciplinary explorations on the performance of motion". I was happy to find that two people I know are members of this vibrant group of people:
Celine Latulipe
Dr. Celine Latulipe is a Human-Computer Interaction researcher at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. She is the lead in the Dance.Draw project, a collaboration between the Software and Information Systems department, the Department of Dance, and a digital artist.
As Celine puts it, "You are more than your eyes and one hand. Why should you have to be less than you are when confronted with a digital device? Exquisite interaction is a collection of research projects...that aim to enrich your expressive creativity in the digital realm by allowing you and your collaborators to use more of your body in that digital interaction"
Doug Foxcreated and maintains theGreat Danceand Kinetic Interface blogs. When he was 42, he decided to study dance - modern, ballet, and jazz. He is interested in the intersection of dance and technology, and more recently became involved in the study of animation related to dance and movement.
The following is from Doug's "About" page - the videos and links are worth exploring:
"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..."
Contest winners were paired with choreographers, who created a new dance work based on a peer-reviewed article in a scientific journal. (The Science Dance Match-Up Challenge)
I just had to post the videos here - you can read detailed descriptions about each video on YouTube:
The role of Vitamin D in beta-cell function
Cerebral activation patterns induced by inflection of regular and irregular verbs with positron emission tomography: A comparison between single subject and group analysis
A Molecular Dance in the Blood, Observed
Popular Choice: Physics Tango "Single Molecule Measurements of Protelomerase TelK-DNA Complexes."
The four videos generated by the professional choreographers can be accessed on Vimeo.
Links to the scientific articles, the bios of the choreographers and scientists, and videos of the choreographer's renditions of the scientist's work can be found on the Science/AAAS website:
The Gonzo Scientist: The Science Dance Match-Up Challenge John Bohannon, Science, 4/17/09 SOMEWHAT RELATED Usually I reserve this section for links and information from external sources, but this time, I thought I'd share a few of my opinions that are somewhat related to this topic.
Why do I think interdisciplinary pursuits are important?
In my opinion, to move forward, the arts and other disciplines need to embrace the interdisciplinary way of thinking. There is much that is mixing and converging as I type these words. There is less emphasis for young people to pick one little corner of a field of study and make it their life's obsession. I have always had an "interdisciplinary" approach to life, ever since I can remember. I attribute this to my parents, who nurtured me as a musical, dancing, artistic child to pursue my talents at a young age, and when faced with choosing a college major, to go for a double major.
My interdisciplinary nature has fueled my journey into the world of technology, and my early background in the arts probably explains why I'm excited about interactive multimedia, extending into the realms of emmersive games, multi-touch and gesture interaction, and technology-supported interaction that takes place in larger public spaces.
Note:
As many of my readers know, I work as a school psychologist in my "day job". I DO miss the time when I was working part-time and taking graduate classes at UNC-Charlotte, but when the economy went downhill, It was necessary for me to return to work full-time.
The upcoming academic year will be busy! With the recent budget cuts to school districts in the in the state of North Carolina, I will have another school added to my schedule. I'm excited that it is a high school for technology and the arts, and that the school has a strong dance program!
I've posted quite a bit recently, since I have plenty to share. Soon I will only have time to post about 3 times a week.
This is a great video of Nicholas Rubin's Physical Computing project, in which he built a volumetric interface and projection surface. Rubin is a graduate student at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications program.
The following quote from the video was posted by Doug Fox, of Great Dance/Kinetic Interface: "In building this object I used as my theoretical foundation a practice called "glowsticking" that exists predominantly in rave and underground electronic music culture. Glowstickers, at least the talented ones, have cultivated the unique ability to twirl their glowsticks in mid-air and actually generate continuous, dynamic, 3D imagery in space. This is then observed by other party-goers whom might be near them. It usually happens spontaneously on the dance floor as opposed to being strictly a performance activity."
Doug Fox, of the Kinetic Interface blog (part of Great Dance), shared IKEA's new promotional site that allows for tons of multimedia interaction. The website features a series of rooms to highlight various products.
Visit Come into the Closet! IKEA Interactive Multimedia Game Unlike most static, or even flash-based websites, the user has control over many dimensions of experience:
Simply watch the dancers and listen to the music, navigating from room to room
Control the dancers by tapping on your computer's keyboard
Control the dancers by clapping, singing, or making other noises
Combine tapping your keys while watching and listening
Here is a video preview of some of the dance interaction in the site:
Duncan, of the Inspiration Room, also posted credit information regarding the IKEA website:
The following credits were posted by Duncan on the Inspiration Room Daily:
"The site was developed at Forsman Bodenfors, Sweden by web director Mathias Appelblad, copywriter Fredrik Jansson, art director Anders Eklind, designers Anton Robsarve and Christoffer Persson, agency producers Peter Gaudiano, Charlotte Most, Asa Jansson, account director Philip Mascher."
"An earlier version of the site was developed in 2006, winning a Yellow Pencil at the DandDs, and can be viewed online at Forsman Bodenfors."
"Web development was done at Kokokaka, Gothenburg."
"Filming was shot by director Amir Chamdin via Chamdin & Stöhr, Stockholm, with director of photography Gosta Reiland."
