This presentation explores the incorporation of mechatronic devices such as exoskeletons and supernumerary limbs into live performances to animate human bodies on stage. We adapt motion capture (mocap) techniques and data gathered from bodies, crowds, and devices to control, augment and alter human movements as if we would be animating 3D virtual characters yet with the inevitable constraints of the physical world and human body integrity.
The study acknowledges a shift in the arts towards a more experiential approach. To be actively involved in the work, beyond merely occupying the physical and temporal space, fundamentally changes the perception of action and point of view. “Procedural authorship” refers to participation where instructions are given to audiences by artists [1], similar to the mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics in game design. This research investigates how procedural authorship can be facilitated and expanded by mocap systems and wearables.
Mocap, presented as a spectacle to audiences, highlights the ambiguities of the bodies involved, such as intersubjectivity and de-individuation [2]. The notion of free will is critically engaged, with scenarios either impeding or enhancing future actions, fostering collective responsibility within the performance.
The flow of motion data navigates various routes: from bespoke input devices extending to the crowd, from chosen audience members to the entire gathering, through one-to-one “dialogues” facilitated via mobile applications, to a self-capturing and replay system of motion. This transforms audiences into interactive feedback systems and positions mocap as an instrument for crowdsourcing activities and collaborative creativity.
Several productions have seamlessly integrated human and machine, transforming animated bodies into amalgamations of light, robot, sound, and group elements. “Grace State Machines” (Vorn, 2007) aligns human bodies with abstract machine forms. “Inferno” (Demers, Vorn, 2015) equips 24 novices with exoskeletons, transforming them into dancers, where live mocap facilitates better dynamics. “XLimbs” (Demers, 2017) employs wearables that self-record and replay movements through extra limbs. The upcoming “Godspeed” (2024) will empower spectators to become skilled performers within a larger ensemble, utilizing feedback mocap and subsequently quantizing each member’s movements.
There are affordance motives to be found in interoperable motor skills between participants, in kinesthetics resonances, and also in impossibilities [3]. Given this procedural authorship, participants’ brains expect certain prototypical features once the pattern of body data harvesting is suggested or given.
Participative works aim to create a liminoid framework akin to a stage space. The heightened intersubjectivity is set forth by an invitation to join, followed by consent to participate. Audiences are literally “raptured” [4] by the wearables. This enhances immersion and triggers strong physiological responses marking transformative moments in the lives of participants.
- White, G., Audience participation in theatre: Aesthetics of the invitation. 2013: Springer.
- Mueller, F.F., et al., Towards Understanding the Design of Intertwined Human-computer Integrations. ACM Transactions on Asian and Low-Resource Language Information Processing, 2023.
- Garner Jr, S.B., J. Garner, and Rene, Kinesthetic Spectatorship in the Theatre. 2018: Springer.
- Levy, E.K., Enraptured: Attention and Art, in Perception and Agency in Shared Spaces of Contemporary Art. 2017, Routledge. p. 171-183.