Reflective Dance — Step in and Play!
This project was articulated by the desire to instigate creative play. Two participants move away, and towards each other, and dance together to compose their own melody through their bodies' movement in space. The distance or proximity, synchronicity or asynchronicity, and slowness or speed enable a variety of sounds and visual displays that fill the room and create a presence.
Their position is captured through two ultrasonic Arduino sensors, which respectively measure the distance to a participant. For each sensor, a discrete distance range triggers a sound, while combined sequences of values trigger images and visual animations.
The real-time reflection of their motion not only makes the collected data visible and intuitive, but provides the participants with perceptual awareness and creates a multi-sensory embodiment of their interaction with each other, and with the space. The projected environment re-interprets the relation of musical and dance-focused experiences.
Individual project done in the context of Prof. E. O'Toole's Creative Code studio, Pratt Institute, Winter 2017. Ideation, development & iteration, image making, sound design, and Arduino & Processing code.