The application of motion-capture technology in telematic and virtual dance performance through a framework for long-distance remote communication
Lead Research Organisation:
Goldsmiths, University of London
Department Name: Media and Communications
Abstract
This project involves a unique use-case and experimental exploration of the affordances of new marker-less motion-capture systems such as Perception Neuron and Posenet in the remote creation, rehearsal, teaching, and performance of dance work. Aspects of this are:
Affordable and accessible motion-capture technology as a creative tool for choreography
Real-time telematic dance communication
Remote collaborative devising of dance choreography
Online and interactive performance
Remote rehearsal of performance
Virtual choreography in virtual spaces
Choreography with intelligent machines (machine learning)
Remote teaching of dance choreography in three dimensions
Abstracted generative aesthetic visualisation of dance movement for performance
We will deliver:
A framework for long-distance remote communication of movement data for dancers (and audio-visual creatives) to practice, rehearse and perform remotely but together. This framework includes:
A code template starter-kit for creatives to design a) custom movement visualizations and b) appearances and experiences for virtual performance
A controllable interface for online audiences to interact with performances through a digital device
A database of movements and gestures that can be used to train movement models for machine-learning-based interactions between dancers and machine software
This project addresses an urgent need for useable technology for dance companies to move beyond the limitations of video conferencing platforms. As these companies pivot from touring and the production of new work to other activities, we will make a strong case for the application of time and resources into streams of research into potential futures of choreographic practice that can be digitally shared worldwide.
Affordable and accessible motion-capture technology as a creative tool for choreography
Real-time telematic dance communication
Remote collaborative devising of dance choreography
Online and interactive performance
Remote rehearsal of performance
Virtual choreography in virtual spaces
Choreography with intelligent machines (machine learning)
Remote teaching of dance choreography in three dimensions
Abstracted generative aesthetic visualisation of dance movement for performance
We will deliver:
A framework for long-distance remote communication of movement data for dancers (and audio-visual creatives) to practice, rehearse and perform remotely but together. This framework includes:
A code template starter-kit for creatives to design a) custom movement visualizations and b) appearances and experiences for virtual performance
A controllable interface for online audiences to interact with performances through a digital device
A database of movements and gestures that can be used to train movement models for machine-learning-based interactions between dancers and machine software
This project addresses an urgent need for useable technology for dance companies to move beyond the limitations of video conferencing platforms. As these companies pivot from touring and the production of new work to other activities, we will make a strong case for the application of time and resources into streams of research into potential futures of choreographic practice that can be digitally shared worldwide.
Publications
Strutt D
(2021)
Virtual relationships: the dancer and the avatar
in Theatre and Performance Design
Strutt D
(2021)
New Telematic Technologies for Remote Creation, Rehearsal and Performance of Choreographic Work
in Journal of Embodied Research
Strutt D
(2025)
An Alien Phenomenology in Dance: Virtual Telematic Performances as Embodied Philosophy
in Documenta
Strutt, D
(2021)
A Simple Tool for Remote Real-Time Dance Interaction in Virtual Spaces Or "Dancing in the Metaverse"
in Scènes Critiques
Whitley A
(2023)
Digital Dance Studio VR (DDS-VR)
Zylinska Joanna
(2022)
The Future of Media
| Description | In this 2021 funded AHRC 'Covid 19' project we successfully undertook the development, testing, and implementation of an open-source software tool for the real-time streaming of motion capture data. This streaming tool has allowed us to bring dancers from different geographic locations into a shared virtual space to dance together with a convincing sense of physical copresence, direct interaction, and virtual touch. We call it Goldsmiths Mocap Streamer, and in 2021 we had the opportunity to successfully demonstrate the framework and share our findings to an international audience through a series of livestreams, workshops, and festival events. In our own performance showcases in May 2021, and November 2021 (for the UK Being Human Festival) we evidenced not only that a sense of liveness could be achieved in the virtual space, but also that this could be done with a set of generative and aesthetic visual effects that render the dance in radically new ways - in turn abstract, narrative, and illusionistic. In June 2021 at VRHAM! (Hamburg) and in October 2021 for the BFI London Film Festival, we also brought multiple, remotely connected, and fully embodied dancers into a Virtual Reality (VR) performance environment in real-time, in partnership with INVR Spaces Gmbh (INVR), and Alexander Whitley Dance Company (AWDC). MAY 2021 LIVESTREAM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RXzz_p6LvI&t=407s NOV 2021 LIVESTREAM https://youtu.be/aNg-gqZNYR0 BFI LFF LIVESTREAM https://youtu.be/VKvLQqJ0Po8 Goldsmiths Mocap Streamer was initially developed to address the issues surrounding the isolation and physical distancing of the Covid19 restrictions, by first connecting dancers remotely through a framework for motion-capture data streaming, and then seeing what kinds of emotional, aesthetic, and affective connections could be made within virtual spaces. These concerns were framed and led by our collaborating artists, honed and developed through a series of practice-led research workshops with artists both local to Goldsmiths in London, and as far away as Singapore (LASALLE), New York (Gowanus Loft, Brooklyn) and Hong Kong (HKAPA). However, we knew that beyond the immediate concerns of the pandemic, this tool had a much broader applicability, possibly offering itself as a critical turning-point in a 50-year history of the aesthetic and technological evolution of telematic performance practice. Now effectively framed by the publicity surrounding Facebook's conceptualisation of a 'Metaverse' interactive VR space, we see our research as a step towards the modes of fully embodied interactions that can and will take place within this kind of environment. In many ways it seems inevitable that dancers and performers will be working in this way in the future, and we want to be able to develop and position our research as a significant part of working towards that reality. We have also published two articles, with one more forthcoming, and there are two book chapters forthcoming. |
| Exploitation Route | While we ourselves have applied successfully to follow-on-funding for impact and engagement, we also have an open-source code Github repository where we freely share our software. This repository, as well as a set of asset starter kits that we have created, will come strongly into play as we disseminate our research through a global network of dance practitioners (within the scope of our next FoF project). We are working closely with our new partners Noitom (the makers of the motion capture system Perception Neuron) towards full integration of our own tool with their system for applications in Android VR and with games engine Unreal Engine. Our dance partner Alexander Whitely Dance Company has taken up and used our mocap streamer tool for teaching and creation with a dance school in Hong Kong, and further to this we are currently developing a new collaborative VR performance 'Future Rites', with virtual venue creators INVR Space (Berlin). We hope to showcase this performance later in 2022, and there is another FoF proposal current submitted for this project. We have, throughout this project, created a global awareness of the kind of high-quality and high-integrity work that can be created with our framework for motion capture data streaming, and through our Q&A activities, practical workshops (in Being Human Festival 2021), and authored articles we have critically analysed both the strengths and weaknesses of working with such a system. These findings, shared in this way, will be of great use to others moving into this field of remote digital 'telematic' performance. |
| Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Leisure Activities including Sports Recreation and Tourism Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |
| URL | http://mocapstreamer.live |
| Description | Through several panel discussions, workshops, engagement events, and showcases both nationally and internationally we have provided an extremely strong use case for motion capture in the creation of remote telematic dance work. This evidence has been used in 2022 within a global open-call for artists residency projects for a follow-on project, through which we received 160 applications from all over the world. This shows that we have managed to create a good global awareness of the potential of the framework for dance communication that we have built. In 2022 PI Dan Strutt was invited and funded by the British Underground to attend South by Southwest (SxSW) Festival in Austin, Texas in March 2022, to speak on a panel about the future of dance in virtual environments. This relationship led to a further application to SxSW for 2023 through which I gained £14000 funding from British Underground to deliver both a panel discussion and an exhibition entry in the XR Experience called Figural Bodies. This installation involved a VR experience and a live performance element whereby we used the Mocap Streamer software to bring a disabled dancer (with us in Austin Texas) together with a neurodivergent dancer in the UK. Our acceptance into the SXSW programme in 2023 and the funding provided from British Council and UKRI (managed through British Underground) serves as evidence of the impact of this research in the public realm, and testifies also to the positioning of British research internationally. Through continuing projects and collaborations we have successfully positioned ourselves within a burgeoning area of creative practice and research, and I hope to sustain our work in this field for many years to come. In current research, funded by both the British Academy and XR Networks+ (University of York), we are re-developing the mocap streamer software (that was originally developed as part on this AHRC project in 2021), specifically for integration with project partner Alexander Whitley's software 'Otmo'. We tested this in 2023 with partners at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia and with Letta Shtoryn in Belgium. This was presented in events on the 20th and 21st March 2024, and furthermore at events Digital Body Festival, and at Beyond Conference (Manchester) in November 2024. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2021 |
| Sector | Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural |
| Description | Prime Ministers Council of Science and Technology event. |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | British Academy Innovation Fellowships Scheme 2022-23 (Route A: Researcher-led) |
| Amount | £110,507 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | IF2223\230051 |
| Organisation | The British Academy |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2023 |
| End | 02/2024 |
| Description | Building an international network for virtual dance collaboration: Deploying Goldsmiths MoCap Streamer tool for inclusive and sustainable development |
| Amount | £120,791 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | AH/W006863/1 |
| Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2021 |
| End | 01/2023 |
| Description | XR Network+ : Virtual Production in the Digital Economy |
| Amount | £2,659,783 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/W020602/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2022 |
| End | 09/2027 |
| Description | British Academy Innovation Fellowship with co-applicant Alexander Whitley Dance Company. |
| Organisation | Alex Whitley Dance Company |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | This was a 12-month innovation collaboration based around issues of accessibility and inclusivity in dance tech, leading directly on from previous work funded by the AHRC. Working closely with AWDC I helped manage innovation goals around their company priorities toward three objectives which each addressed barriers to access. These were remote access and collaboration, inclusive avatar representation, and immersive 3D media. I funded and organised a set of workshops with the technology that was developed. |
| Collaborator Contribution | As co-applicant, AWDC led innovation processes, with funding from Innovate UK and Arts Council England. Together in 2023 we presented work at SxSW festival in Austin, Texas, at SIGGRAPH in L.A. and at the Prime Minister's Council of Science and Technology. We also collaborated on a series of workshops in London, Bristol, and Ipswich. |
| Impact | We have delivered and exhibited software innovation prototypes in the form of AWDCs Digital Dance Studio (DDS), DDS-VR, and the Mocap Streamer integration with DDS. This is all multi-disciplinary work involving dance, software, cultural studies, and education. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Digital Innovation Network |
| Organisation | University College London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | This is a network of academic and industry partners including Goldsmiths, UCL, Target3D, London College of Fashion, Marshmallow Laser Feast, Alexander Whitley Dance Company, and Sadlers Wells. Throughout 2024 there will be a series of workshops, symposiums and performances that will pull together artistic, academic and industry networks to share insight and innovation. I was instrumental in gaining funding with Alexander Whitley Dance Company to initiate this collaborative project. Goldsmiths will host the inaugural event in March 2024. |
| Collaborator Contribution | There is a wide set of partners involved each meeting monthly, and each hosting an event in the summer of 2024. |
| Impact | none yet. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Mocap Steamer Artist Residency - Brazil |
| Organisation | Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG) |
| Country | Brazil |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Training and mentorship, induction and training sessions. Repositories of digital asset packs, resources, and training modules on Gitbook. Provision of motion capture hardware - value £6000 Bursary of £5000 |
| Collaborator Contribution | The collaboration was with the Carne Digital research group at UFGRS, working with eminent choreographers Eva Schul of Anima Dance, and Iara Deodoro of Afro Sul Dance Company. These researchers created two dance pieces that were delivered in our final showcase performance. |
| Impact | the dance works themself (decribed below) and a current dance movement archive project which is being developed in Brazil through use of the equipment and training that we provided. Alma Negra - Afro-Sul Grupo de Música e Dança & Pedro Rocha (Brazil) & Ainslee Robson (USA, California) Inspired by the archetypes of the female orishas Oxum, Iansã, Iemanjá and Nanã, the performance proposes an encounter between past and present, between the Pan-African roots of Afro-Sul and the experience of dance in the metaverse and confirms that the future is ancestral. Looking back is key to a better future! Weaving Through the Space Mass - Ânima Cia. de Dança & Pedro Rocha (Brazil) The dance performance proposes to make visible the weave of space and its manipulation by the dancers. Considering the space around the body has a certain density, when in movement, the body is not only sustained by this mass, but also manipulates and modifies it. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Title | Alexander Whitley Dance Company's Digital Dance Studio VR |
| Description | This is a software application developed as part of a British Academy Innovation Fellowship, in partnership with Alexander Whitley Dance Company (AWDC) and INVR Space (Berlin). It was presented as collaborative research output at SIGGRAPH 2023 in their immersive pavilion. As this applicaiton became tethered to the intellectual property of AWDC (i.e. Digital Dance Studio) we cannot make this available open-source - though there is a proposal to continue the development of the software through further AHRC /DFG funding in 2025 - in which case we would develop an open source version. we are also working to integrate the Mocap Streamer Software (also listed here ) as directly integrated into the immersive VR application. |
| Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | As this VR application was a prototype developed out of a research collaboration, it does stand separate to AWDC's Digital Dance Studio as it has been developed as a trademarked and protected desktop application product of AWDC. However, the development process and workflow, and the research insight gained through both that innovation process and its presentation at SIGGRAPH, has directly fed back into the evolution and development of the commercial product. The VR platform was also extensively tested throughout a series of workshops in the second half of 2023 in educational, creative, and accessibility/inclusivity contexts, and we are currently in the process of gathering evidence of the impacts of these workshops. Footage from the VR tools that were developed can be see here https://www.alexanderwhitley.com/dds. |
| URL | https://www.alexanderwhitley.com/dds |
| Title | Goldsmiths Mocap Streamer |
| Description | This software streams motion capture data omnidirectionally via a cloud server to any location. It is currently compatible only with Perception Neuron motion capture system. |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Open Source License? | Yes |
| Impact | This tool was initally created in 2021 to share dance work internationally, through a framework for streaming motion capture data. It was rolled out globally through our FoF project 'Building an international network for virtual dance collaboration: Deploying Goldsmiths MoCap Streamer tool for inclusive and sustainable development'. It is currently being re-developed as part of ongoing research in 2024, funded by both XR Network+ and British Academy. |
| URL | https://www.mocapstreamer.live/mocap-streamer-app |
| Title | Inclusive Avatar system |
| Description | This is not quite ready but will be forthcoming at the end of March 2024. It will be available through an open-source license. As an output of several years of AHRC and British Academy research we discerned a need for an avatar system for virtual dance representation and agency which was non-realistic (in terms of face, consume, hair etc) but which captured and expressed the needs of a diverse set of dance practitioners to feel represented within a form that correlates with their need to feel embodied and expressive in the virtual space. This system allows for customisable body parts according to a huge diversity of non-normative body shapes that are not adequately represented in other avatar systems, and for amputations or prosthetics to be represented. |
| Type Of Technology | Physical Model/Kit |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Open Source License? | Yes |
| Impact | This avatar system is a complex enterprise, reflecting on years of AHRC-funded practice-based research experience, as well as theory about disabled and non-normative body representation in Metaverse-type virtual environments. It's impact is potentially huge, and through testing in a series of workshops in 2023 we have been through an extensive process of feedback and user input, leading to its refinement for heightening potential impact. In the first instance it is being directly incorporated into AWDC's Digital Dance Studio software which will be rolled-out as a product in 2024. Secondly it will be an open-source resource whereby users will be abe to download, customise and add to it in terms of improving and enhancing its functionality for access and inclusivity. Due to its complexity we have experienced some delays in final delivery. |
| URL | https://www.alexanderwhitley.com/dds |
| Description | BFI London Film Festival 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | For the BFI London Film Festival 'Expanded' Programme we developed a work in VR that could be joined from anywhere in the world. This was in partnership with Alexander Whitely Dance Company, and was followed with a discussion/dialogue with the makers of the Virtual 'Expanse' Venue INVR Spaces, and with the choreographer Alexander Whitely. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Goldsmiths Mocap Streamer Collaborative Innovation Showcase |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Bringing regional and international work back to London alongside new research initiatives, we showcased collaborative projects through a day of demo, workshop, and performance. All the work presented was informed by innovation in motion-capture exploration of avatar embodiment, communication, and interaction in shared virtual spaces. This event was of interest to dance professionals, creative technologists, and anyone interested in emerging immersive performance practices. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.mocapstreamer.live/collaborative-innovation-showcase |
| Description | May 2021 Performance Showcase |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | This was a one-hour performance showcase designed to demonstrate the functionality of our mocap streamer tool. With one dancer in the room, we brought a further two dancers into a virtual space, so that we could see three avatar bodies interacting in real-time. The audience was fully online. This was our first showcase, presented with our project partner Mavin Khoo, and was followed by a lively Q&A |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | November 2021 Performance Showcase for Being Human Festival |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In November 2021, for Being Human Festival and presented from Goldsmiths, we offered a one-hour showcase performance to show the final results of our research process. Here we had two dancers with us at Goldsmiths, and one dancer connected remotely from New York. This performance was simultaneously livestreamed in the USA through Midheaven Network. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | November 2022 Showcase Performance for Being Human Festival - Global Dance Collaboration in the Metaverse |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This event was the final showcase for our 5 artist residency teams and our own disability-led research project. 7 original works were presented with Q&A and discussion over a four-hour period. Two works were presented in-person with dancers from the UK. The other five were streamed from respective locations ranging from New Delhi, to New York, to Malta, to Porto Alegre in Brazil, and finally Bangkok. It was presented in association with Being Human Festival. The in-person audience was around 60 people. The international and online audience was 500 live on the day, increasing to 1300 on the youtube link over the following week. There was a high level of participation from the in-person audience, with lively debate and an opportunity to get into motion-capture and dance within one project. A short video about the day can be seen here https://www.mocapstreamer.live/showcase-12-nov-2022 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGvJE4VaAAc&t=6815s |
| Description | Pandemic and Beyond Podcasts |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Daniel Strutt and other Team memebers took part in two podcast discussions with the Pandemic and Beyond team at Exter Uni. https://pandemicandbeyond.exeter.ac.uk/media/podcasts/ |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Prime Minister's Council of Science and Technology - Science Museum. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | We were invited to present ongoing British Academy Innovation fellowship research to the Prime Minister's Council of Science and Technology at the Science Museum in Dec 2023. The attendees were policymakers and industry leads from across the UK Creative Industries. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | SIGGRAPH Digital Dance Studio VR Immersive Pavilion exhibition. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Alexander Whitley Dance Company and I were successful in our application to the highly esteemed Immersive Pavilion of ACM SIGGRAPH 2023. We presented the Digital Dance Studio VR, an innovative VR software app for digital choreographic composition, planning, teaching, learning, and rehearsal. It offers an immersive interface for creation and manipulation of choreographic sequences in virtual space through a suite of modular tools for choreographers, dancers, and other movement-based practitioners. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://s2023.siggraph.org/presentation/?id=gensub_369&sess=sess208 |
| Description | SXSW 2022 - Panel Mocap Streaming and remote dance collaboration in VR |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | This was a panel discussion at South by South West Festival 2022. This panel discussed the technical, creative and conceptual issues around distributed performance experiences in VR. The conversation focussed on the VR Mocap Streamer project, a partnership between Alexander Whitley Dance Company and the Department for Media and Communications at Goldsmiths University, London, which attempts to bring live, fully embodied interactive performance from remote locations into a multi-user VR experience based on the seminal ballet The Rite of Spring. A lively discussion followed. This has directly led to the inclusion of one of our project outputs in SXSW 2023 XR Experience Spotlight programme - on the 10th to 14th March - called Figural Bodies. We also have a panel discussion 'Dance in the Metaverse - Inclusion and accessibility'. These activities are funded by British Underground, in the Future Art and Culture programme - produced by British Underground at SxSW funded by Arts Council England with additional support in 2023 from the British Council. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://schedule.sxsw.com/2022/events/PP116279 |
| Description | SXSW 2023 - Panel 'Dance in the Metaverse: Tools for Accessibility' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | A panel discussion as part of SXSW's conference program. The description was "As the metaverse becomes the proposed next frontier for embodied connection, play, and performance, its current design, representation of bodies, and technological modes of interaction remain inaccessible to many. This panel will critically discuss the barriers to access and will give insight into practical design processes which centre disability. Focusing on dance performance, the panel brings together developers, performers and researchers to discuss sustainable and inclusive design practice; i.e. streaming tools for remote participation, and machine learning for adaptive modes of embodiment in virtual spaces. To fulfil the true potential of the cultural metaverse we must start to think about challenging its normative assumptions to reach for a concept of collective affinity." |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://schedule.sxsw.com/2023/events/PP127701 |
| Description | SxSW XR Experience Exhibition - 'Figural Bodies' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This was a performance and exhibition installation in the XE Experience hall of SXSW festival in Austin Texas, as part of the film Festival programme. The programme descption was "Figural Bodies," created with Candoco Dance, is active research towards deconstructing mocap data from its enforced normative algorithms, celebrating subversion and difference in the immersive representation of bodies. Disabled dancers in Austin and London, connected by Goldsmiths Mocap Streamer, seek to share embodied communication through virtual interaction. The dancers communicate through a co-created movement vocabulary, using motion data and machine learning to push the boundaries of how bodies can be represented in the Metaverse. Future Art and Culture is produced by British Underground at SxSW funded by Arts Council England with additional support in 2023 from the British Council. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://schedule.sxsw.com/2023/films/2079060 |
| Description | VRHAM! 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | At this Virtual Reality Arts Festival, which took place both in-person (in Hamburg) and in VR, we presented a VR dance work with Alexander Whitely Dancer Company. I also participated in a VR panel discussion about Virtual Reality performance. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |