Music and The Body: Wearable Technology for Performance

Music and The Body:Wearable Technology for PerformancePresented by Billie YuanI am interested in costume design so I was naturally interested in how technology can enhance performance and the relationship it has with the bodyParticularly how technology creates an interactive experience between the tool, the performer and the audience1The Future of Orchestral Garments

I want to start with this projectStarted in 2012, Students from Parsons collaborated with The Baltimore Symphony and students from Mannes to work on the project called The Future of Orchestral GarmentsA year long project divided in two courses in which fashion students worked on the clothing and design and technology students incorporated technology in the garmentsIn their research, the students had to consider the musician and their movements in relation to their particular instruments to create the garmentsHere is an image of a traditional tuxedo tailored to the musician by incorporating more breathable and moveable material to ease his performance, they used mesh in the back and underarmThe concert has three parts (the first two incorporate technology and the last one is just material consideration) and were performed earlier this year in May2Motion Sensors in Arm, Real-Time Projection on Screen

In this image, two percussionists have motion sensors in the sleeves of the garment (activated by stretch sensors) that projects images in real-time on the screen based on their movements.The sleeves themselves are made of reflective yarnThey were interested in data visualization and the percussion instruments are found objects3Silhouette Adjusts Animation with Connect Box

Here is a garment where the form is designed for the ease of the arms and hands when playing the piano as well as acting as a screen for projectionThe connect box picks up the silhouette of the performer based on how big or small she gets based on her movement and adjusts the visuals accordinglyI have embedded their practice clip but you can see the whole concert online the percussionist performance is boring but the piano one is really cool, cooler than what I have here. Ive included the links in my PPT noteshttp://new.livestream.com/TheNewSchool/bso (Full concert)http://vimeo.com/72710257 (Visuano performance only)http://youtu.be/3M8e96ull6w (alternate performance of Visuano)http://youtu.be/5WcK4kTKytg (Making of Visuano)I think this collaboration was very interesting because it took traditional music and changed how it is experienced by incorporating technology. The music doesnt change but our perception does.4Daito Manabe

Now, I will talk about Daito Manabe He is Japanese programmer interested in the relationship between the body and technology and does a lot of work with soundI was first exposed to his work on Nosaj Things music video Eclipse/Blue but I think most will recognize his Human Body Drum Kit project5Human Body Drum Kit

In this project, he synced shocks to music so your face twitches accordingly6Hard at Work

Nosaj Thing Eclipse/BlueI really wanted to show the music video so I edited a 19 sec clip9Nosaj Thing Eclipse/Blue

He used a Point Grey Camera to track the movements of the dancersThere is no post-production work, just the projections onto the screen and dancers themselvesThe inspiration for dance comes from the sun and moon and the dancers each represent one of these elementsThe inspiration for the video comes from Klaus Obermaier and Ars Electronica Futurelabs project Apparition.Finally, I wanted to say that The Creators Project features a lot of really contemporary projects as it is funded by Intel and produced by Vice so I suggest people to check it out10Works Cited"WQXR - New York's Classical Music Radio Station." WQXR - New York's Classical Music Radio Station. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2013. ."The Future of Orchestral Garments." The New Livestream. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2013. ." Collab: Orchestral Garments Fall 2012 & The Gift Spring 2013." Collab: Orchestral Garments Fall 2012 & The Gift Spring 2013. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2013. ."Daito Manabe." Daito Manabe. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2013. ."The Verge." The Verge. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2013. ."Witness Daito Manabe's Surreal Dance Experience For Nosaj Thing's "Eclipse/Blue" [Exclusive Video Premiere]." The Creators Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2013. .11