Beats Exposed

Aaron Parsekian, Danielle Butler, Lisa M Jamhoury

Beats Exposed is an interactive aerial performance that breaks down the barrier between audience and performer. By exposing the performer’s heartbeat through sound and projected visuals, the performer invites the audience to see beyond his or her physical form.

http://lmj.io/tag/icm-pcomp-final/

Description

Beats Exposed is an interactive performance experience that breaks down the barrier between audience and performer. By exposing the body’s vital signs, the performer invites the audience to see beyond the polished act and into the extreme physical and personal effort.

Beats Exposed is built to be used in performance on, or off, stage. It is lightweight and battery powered, and therefore able to run in a variety of settings.

The current iteration of the project is performed with an aerialist. It exposes the exertion in an artform that is extremely demanding, yet typically meant to appear effortless.

The performer wears a Polar pulse sensor and Moteino wireless transceiver while performing. The transceiver communicates wirelessly with a second Moteino transceiver connected to a computer. The pulse is transferred serially to a P5 program with both audio and visualizations.

In this experience, the audience hears the sound of a heartbeat timed with the performer’s pulse. The visualization, also reacting to the pulse, projects from the ceiling onto the performer, surrounding area, and any audience members that have come in close.

The resulting experience is intimate, personal and engaging.

Classes

Introduction to Computational Media, Introduction to Computational Media, Introduction to Physical Computing, Introduction to Physical Computing