System

The Dance.Draw system can run as either a Carbon application that uses the OpenGL graphics library or as a Processing Script. We run Dance.Draw off an Apple laptop and plug into whatever high resolution projector is available in the performance venue.

Devices

The dancers’ movements are used as input for the visualizations that are projected onto a wall or screen behind the dancers. The dancers each carry two Logitech MX Air mice (one per hand). These mice are gyroscopic, and so they can track in mid-air (unlike normal optical mice, which must be moved across a flat surface to generate input). The mice have considerable range: we have found the system still tracking the mice when the dancers have left the practice room and wondered about 80 feet down the hall!

Device Pairing and Exquisite Interaction

The current Dance.Draw incarnation assumes two mice per dancer and automatically pairs the mice into groups. With a keyboard trigger, the system changes to exquisite interaction mode and groups all of the spatial inputs from all of the dancers into a group of 6 input streams. These can then be applied to a more complex visualization, such as the `flying origami’ visualization we have used in our first 3 performances. Toggling the keyboard trigger can move the system back into paired input mode.

Programming Visualizations

The current system requires a programmer to design and code visualizations. However, we are working to design an interface for a choreographer to select some general visualization parameters, without a programmer having to hard code in each desired change. This system will never replace the programmer artist, as we are always likely to be pushing the boundaries and wanting to develop novel visualizations, but we want our colleagues in choreography and dance to be able to experiment with the system when the programmers are not available.