Soft Circuit Workshop

Some related projects

Here are some other wearable dance interfaces I’ve found.

They are all very cool, but also very frustrating for the following reasons:

1) The technolgy is really bulky, using large components and always using wires instead of thread

2) These interfaces are part of a visual performance, but they are HIDEOUS. For all of them, it is as if they were entirely focused on function and just disregarded form. They could have just duct-taped some flex sensors all over a dance and achieved the same effect.

This is called PAIR/WISEAR. It is a project put together by Peter Swendsen, one of my (and Francis’) music technology professors at Oberlin, along w/ David Topper, who was one of Peter’s colleagues when he was at UVA. The biggest fallback of this interface for me is that the Linex computer they use is HUGE, and requires its own harness to be attached to the dancer. They also use wires to connect from the computer to the sensors, which I assume restricts the motion of the dancer.

Link: hct.ece.ubc.ca/nime/2005/proc/nime2005_076.pdf

This project is very similar in form to PAIR/WISEAR, called quite simply “A Wearable Wireless Sensor Platform for Interactive Dance Performances.” The “data aggregators” in this cases are a bit smaller than the PAIR/WISEAR interface, but are still pretty bulky, and much less thought was put into the appearance of the dancer, literally using tape to attach sensors to the body.

Link: www.ece.uci.edu/~chou/eco-percom06.pdf

These are just a few pictures I found in an interview with choreographer/”technologist” Yacov Sharir. They look cool, but again the aesthetic is pretty disgusting.

(for some reason, tumbler isn’t recognizing the pictures, so just click on the links).

http://bp3.blogger.com/_rO6t2LdwVYU/SFlYC6LpDgI/AAAAAAAAABA/RdsHrhDOypg/s1600-h/Sharir1.jpg

http://bp3.blogger.com/_rO6t2LdwVYU/SFlYNoWOPXI/AAAAAAAAABI/7Rzy0Dx4z9Y/s1600-h/sharir3.jpg

http://bp0.blogger.com/_rO6t2LdwVYU/SFlYXrh3W4I/AAAAAAAAABQ/Q775odV-s78/s1600-h/sharir4.jpg

I think the biggest problem with all three of these examples is that they’re dated. This is a scary thought, because PAIR/WISEAR has only been put together in the last 3 years, and the other interface looks to have been developed post-2005. The trouble with developing technology, especially in the musical or artistic realm, is that the technology is instantly outdated.

But that’s depressing. What I’ve learned from these projects is that I want to focus, more than anything, on the aesthetic of the garment, avaoiding at all cost the splotched-together components look of these other interfaces. So, at least for next wednesday, I’m going to focus much more on how this thing looks and much less on how fabulously it functions.