Imagine dancing in a nightclub – and it's your movements that are controlling not only the sound but also a range of stunning, bright visual effects surrounding you.
This is the experience that a groundbreaking interactive experiment will be giving dancers this summer.
The person behind the idea is the appropriately named Dr Glowacki. The project was developed at the University of Bristol with funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
Combining an array of 3D cameras and innovative computer software, 'danceroom Spectroscopy' (dS) creates sounds and images from people's movements. The cameras capture these movements and feed them into a computer where a programme, custom-built by Dr Glowacki's team, interprets them as energy fields. The computer is linked to five projectors, resulting in people's real-time energy fields being projected in 360° onto the sides of the dome's interior. Meanwhile thousands of colourful interactive particles react to the force of the dancer's energy fields. These particles represent the billions of tiny particles that exist all around us, but are normally too small for our eyes to see.
The energy of the dancers' movements creates forces that warp the particle motion. This produces a visual effect similar to a pebble being dropped into a pool of water, except in this case the dancer is the pebble and gets to watch as their own movement creates complex waves and ripples. The dancer sees an abstract projection of their outline with particles swirling around them. People can use their 'energy fields 'to interact with the particles - catching, pushing, sharing and dancing with them.
There's also a sonic component to the experiment: as you move within the space, your energy field causes the particles to slosh about and vibrate. The vibrations are analysed by a computer and sent to a musician who uses software programmed to respond to the different types of vibration in pre-set ways. This turns them into sounds, transforming people's energy into electronic beats and soundscapes.
The event is taking place on August 4th and 5th in a giant 21-metre, 360° dome on the forecourt of Weymouth Pavilion in Dorset as part of the Cultural Olympiad.
As the number of people taking part increases and they move in unison the results become more dramatic. The capabilities of dS will also be shown off during 'Hidden Fields', a choreographed performance by a troupe of five specially trained dancers.
"dS is part interactive art installation, part immersive science experience, part large-scale video game, and part musical instrument," says Dr David Glowacki, who has led the project. "Our inspiration has been the mysterious world of nano-quantum mechanics and our aim has been to provide an impression of how everyday motion has an impact on the invisible nano-world of atoms and molecules that are always around us but we don't think about."
Dr Glowacki says: "As well as encouraging people to think about how they interact with the world at a molecular level, our work is showing how tricks from physics and molecular dynamics can be used to monitor and measure the energy of crowds in real-time. This could lead to interesting applications, such as the development of 'dynamic logos' that change in response to crowd movements, or novel educational tools and new approaches to physiotherapy. I'm currently setting up a spin-out company to explore the possibilities."
Notes for Editors
The general public are invited to see, hear and experience Hidden Fields and dS in the coming month at the following venues:
At the Bristol Harbourside festival:
- Hidden Fields will premiere at Arnolfini on 21st July (11.30am and 3pm, £5/£4)
- dS will run as an interactive installation on 21st July in between Hidden Fields performances (1pm – 3pm) and on 22nd July (11am – 5pm, free).
In Weymouth as part of the Cultural Olympiad in the 360° degree projection dome:
- Hidden Fields will show on 5th August (7pm, £4)
- dS will run as an interactive installation on 4th August in (3 – 5pm, free)
The project 'danceroom Spectroscopy: Collectively Generating Music from Movement' has received core funding from EPSRC of just over £16,000 as well as an additional £37,000 in EPSRC 'pathways to impact' funding. Additional support was provided by the Arnolfini contemporary arts centre in Bristol, Watershed and the Pervasive Media Studio.
The project has already toured in the UK and overseas, including the USA and Spain, with further events planned. For more information, visit the dS project website at danceroom-spec.com (information on upcoming Olympic-related events can be found at http://danceroom-spec.com/page_id=997).
The ICCI (Innovation for Creative and Cultural Industries) 360° dome is a temporary installation that will be hosting a series of events in Weymouth between 27th July and 9th September 2012, to tie in with the Olympic and Paralympic Games. For more information on ICCI360, visit http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/icci360
For more information on the Cultural Olympiad as a whole, visit http://www.london2012.com/about-us/cultural-olympiad/
Weymouth and Portland are the venues for the yachting competitions in this year's Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Spectroscopy is the study of how matter and radiated energy interact.
A nanoparticle is a particle with at least one dimension less than 100 nanometres (One nanometre is a billionth of a metre).
Dr Glowacki is working with an interdisciplinary team, including choreographer Laura Kriefmann, programmer Phill Tew, composer and musician Professor Joseph Hyde, and a team of five professional dancers. Together, they are developing the "Hidden Fields" element of the experiment, an accessible dance performance that offers a surreal glimpse into how our everyday movement interacts with the hidden energy fields that surround us.
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is the UK's main agency for funding research in engineering and physical sciences. EPSRC invests around £800m a year in research and postgraduate training, to help the nation handle the next generation of technological change. The areas covered range from information technology to structural engineering, and mathematics to materials science. This research forms the basis for future economic development in the UK and improvements for everyone's health, lifestyle and culture. EPSRC works alongside other Research Councils with responsibility for other areas of research. The Research Councils work collectively on issues of common concern via research Councils UK.
For more information contact:
Dr Dave Glowacki, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, tel: 07528 702368, e-mail: david.r.glowacki@bristol.ac.uk, website: www.glow-wacky.com
Images are available from the EPSRC Press Office. Contact: The EPSRC Press Office on 01793 444404, e-mail: pressoffice@epsrc.ac.uk
Image details and suggested caption: dS1.jpg, dS2.jpg, dS3.jpg, dS4.jpg, dS5.jpg, dS6.jpg: 'It's a unique dance-meets-science experiment' (all images courtesy of Paul Blakemore).