Motion Sensing Technology and Dance

For my final Blog Post, I wanted to talk about how technology is being used in my field because it is an area I feel most people know nothing about. Therefore, I am going to inform you about how motion sensing technology is used in Dance today.

It sounds like a fictional story because the two just do not go together: a computer programmer working with a choreographer. Technology and art seem like two completely different things. But when you put them together, wonderful things start to happen. Together they created MidiDance. MidiDance is a wireless movement sensing outfit that transmits a dancer’s positions on stage to a computer. This information is then used to control video, audio, lighting, and set. It allows for an orchestra to be conducted with just a flick of a finger. You can set sounds to play when certain movements are executed. For example, when a dancer rolls a shoulder or lifts an arm, electronic drums and symbols can crash and echo. The computer used for Plane, which was the first piece to use this technology, was also programmed to sense the movement phrases of the dancers, and it detected when to begin visual projection.

Another form of motion sensing technology that also uses projection is Isadora. Isadora, named after the pioneer of modern dance in America, provides interactive control over digital media in real-time. With Isadora, you can build a series of interactive effects. Then, the effects can be manipulated by lighting, music, and other stage cues. A moment in the choreography, such as a deep plié, will trigger a projected image. This image can be projected in real-time, but what separates it from the MidiDancer is that the real-time projection can be slower, faster, or repeated in loops.

The problem with projection that MidiDance and Isadora use is that it takes the focus away from the dancers. People tend to focus more on the screen than the actual dancer on stage. Therefore, new ways of using motion sensing technology in dance needed to be created to integrate dance and visual effects. Snappy Dance Theater and the Atlanta Ballet have done just that with their use of tracking cameras.

Snappy Dance Theater uses a camera that can track where people are onstage. When the dancer moves, the projected version is a series of glowing strings that form the shape of the body. The focus is not on a projected image of the dancer, but rather on shapes being made by the dancer. The Atlanta Ballet has also used tracking cameras. The Atlanta Ballet has had dancers wear infrared emitters, which are invisible to the audience but detected by special tracking cameras. The locations were fed through a graphic computer in real time. The animation video was fed to a high brightness video projector and animated particle trails of dancers’ hand movements were projected onto a sheet of see-through mesh. This is an even better way of integrating this technology with the dancers because it doesn’t require something to look at on a giant screen. Instead, the focus is more on the dancers and what they are doing.

The Interactive Media Technology Center has done many Dance Technology Projects. One featured a super-computer available through fiber-optics telecommunication. It featured motion tracked balls that were tossed around, causing tumbling 3D objects such as an elephant, house, and space shuttle to appear in place of the balls. A dancer with a motion tracking system, danced on stage next to her cyber re-embodiment.

Motion sensing technology has also been used in dance off the stage. Influential modern dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham, who passed away this summer at the age of 90, worked with Credo Interactive and helped to develop the software called LifeForms. LifeForms Studio, is a 3D character animation and motion capture editing tool, used by professional animators, game developers, and film and broadcast specialists. Merce Cunningham used it to choreograph. It is now known as DanceForms, a choreography tool designed for dance educators, students, choreographers, and notators. It was designed with teachers and choreographers. You start with a digital dancer, appearing as a series of circles, a skeletal figure, or a human one. Then, you can move the figure using commands. It allows you to sketch out your choreographic ideas, mix, match, and blend sequences, use the existing libraries and palettes, animate single figures or large groups, and bring your dance ideas to 3D life.