Introduction

Who are we? 

We are Cal Poly computer science and software engineering students under the guidance of Dr. Zoe Wood. Interested in both computer science and the world of dance, we decided to pursue a project incorporating both of these things, an interdisciplinary project visualizing the movement of dance through digitally controlled EL wire. 

Dr. Zoe Wood

I am an associate professor in the Computer Science Department at Cal Poly. My research in computer graphics is focused on geometric modeling with an emphasis/interest in computational topology and scientific visualization.

Leia Chang

Third year computer science major, blues and tango dance enthusiast. I'm fascinated with tech that's in development, particularly those meant to interact with society and daily life. 

Paula Ledgerwood

Second year software engineering major, likes to cook fancy sounding foods in a college student fashion. I'm still exploring various fields in computer science, but am interested in graphics and data science.

Marina Moore

Second year computer science major with a dance minor, enjoy many styles of dance, particularly modern dance and swing. I am interested in graphics and computer security.

Inspiration

We were first inspired to pursue this project while attending the Grace Hopper Conference 2015 in Houston, Texas. While there, we saw amazing performances from the iLuminate dance group, and were able to speak with Miral Kotb, the creator of the group and the software that their performances depend on. Inspired by her journey to creating this fascinating group, we decided to pursue our own path to combining our love for dance and programming. 

iLuminate Halo Awards 2011 from iLuminate on Vimeo.

Our Project

Our project is an integration of Computer Science and physical movement in dance through visual representation. We aim to not only control choreographed lights via microcontrollers, but to use the capabilities of the technology to gather sensor information about the dancers’ movements, and use those to augment the performance in more interpretive ways, based on the dancers’ control of momentum and pressure.
The end goal of our project is to put on a performance with 2-3 choreographed dancers, each wearing LED-embedded suits hosting individual microcomputers, performing with both the music and the light effects in mind.

This Blog

We will be posting videos and pictures of anything visual we accomplish as well as general updates on our project and useful references we encounter during the project. Check in periodically to see how we are doing!