The fear of dancing
Observing dance floors reveals various levels of comfort. Comfortable dancers move intuitively, while others find it distressing. Physical coordination isn't difficult, but adhering to social expectations can cause anxiety. Some may use dim lighting or substances to ease inhibition.
This project is focused on overcoming inhibitions surrounding dance by refocusing participants' attention towards music. In essence, by mapping individual's movements to various audio triggers, we can redirect their attention away from their own social anxiety towards engaging in the shared, collaborative experience that dance should be.
Universal rules of dance
We leveraged universal dance rules, focusing on connection, space, and rhythm. Research on generative music and precedents, like silent discos, guided prototyping.
Design questions include recognizable auditory parameters, behavior coordination, sensor selection, and avoiding instrument creation.
Editing back
Testing code
Early Concept
After getting the core functionality of our project working, we explored various methods of projection mapping alongside our participants. Ultimately we edited back to an auditory focused thesis. We found that floor projections that followed the users distracted them from connecting with each other.
dyad in action
How it’s made
This project was a collaborative effort between Gail Alderson and Steven Morse for the course Responsive Environments by Prof. Allen Sayegh at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
The project required the use of computer vision paired with custom code to manipulate tracks through the Ableton Live API. The program is responsive to users movement in a space and relative to one another.
I led the development of the tech stack, alongside the development of the tracking algorithms and responsive variable development.