Digital Puppetry
First of all, to update those of you who expressed interest in the Troika Ranch company, they are actually performing in Hollywod, FLORIDA this month, not Hollywood, CA. Whoops. I will still keep my eye on them, though.
Another performer to keep your eye on is Laurie Anderson. We discussed her briefly in 511 in reference to the surreal theme park Scott Fisher worked on in Barcelona. She is currently working on her next tour, so don't even try and follow the links to see the schedule, because they take you in a maddening circle.
What does this have to do with Digital Puppetry? Well, I was contemplating on my little niche here at USC-IM, thinking about my background in live performance, and the DIEM technology - a system of balls attached to the body that send information that can then be programmed to output to control whatever you want - typically lights or music for live dance shows.
Somehow, this led me to think of what I am currently naming "Digital Puppetry" - attaching sensors to the body (excuse my lack of techno lingo as I am still learning all of this) and then outputting that information into designed characters that are then projected. The current concept would be like taking the model for shadow puppetry or a marionette show but creating digital puppet designs. I would be interested in seeing how we could incorporate seeing some of the puppet-masters on stage, just like you would at one of the previously mentioned shows.
Continuing forward in my brainstorm, I thought this would be REALLY cool if the points of control on these characters could be altered, so that instead of a knee=knee, elbow=elbow program, one could create a right pointer finger=knee, left thumb=elbow sort of set up, allowing those who are handicapped and/or hospitalized (I'm thinking of children primarily, but it would be great for anyone) to create elaborate plays, and perform them for eachother or for audiences.
Anyone have any relevant information on this that could be useful?