SXSW 2012

Throughout the last decade, Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) swept the globe, heralding a new craze for dance & gaming experiences. But as with many dance games, the harder it gets (as players advance through levels), the less movement is used (as players conserve stamina to score points). Can we bring the dance back into dance games? Can we hijack this genre to deliver game experiences that encourage users to ‘freestyle’? Can we use new robotic technologies, sound engineering, rigorous quantum mechanics & motion capture to do it?
This panel will focus on two new projects: quantum mechanics based ‘Danceroom Spectroscopy’ & the motion sensor based ‘Guerilla Dance Project’. Using art, science & game mechanics, these projects encourage collective action & harness our fascination with social play. And unlike DDR, the more artistically users interact, the more rewarding the results, regardless of age or fitness levels. Watch older people outplay teenagers. It’s a totally different experience of dance & game play. The panel will discuss the development process, the hurdles (including how to make artists understand quantum mechanics), the vision of these projects, & what they reveal in terms of gestural experience & game design.
Chaired by Choreographer Laura Kriefman the panel will explore the practices of David Glowacki, chemical physicist; Joseph Hyde, composer; Matthew Bickerton, Digital technologist; & Victoria Tillotson, Producer at Pervasive Media Studio, Bristol.