Brooklyn Research worked with artist Toni Dove to create an interactive robotic torso and skirt that responds to a user’s movements. This robotic mechanism was part of the piece “The Dress That Eats Souls”, that Toni Dove created.
Taking input from a Kinect depth camera, the piece tracks a user’s head and body movement. Those movements then get translated to a mirrored robotic movement, mimicking the user movement, and eventually, in a sense “eating their souls”. This all happens simultaneously as projected video, expository audio, and DMX controlled lighting interact with larger narrative of the piece.
“The Dress has a 14′ layered scrim skirt that acts as a projection screen and a cinemascope rear projection screen that hangs overhead. The robotics of the bodice and skirt are controlled by a kinect gaming interface. As a viewer standing in front of the Dress moves, the Dress mirrors their movement. It behaves as if you are wearing it. The Dress speaks to you. It’s rather chilly – like a lizard. It’s the combined human agendas that drive technology. The installation cycles between the Dress speaking and POV experiences on the overhead screen and skirt that put you inside the minds of the people who have worn the Dress as it evolved – 200 years of the human body shaped, molded and colonized by technology. Viewer head movement navigates the cinema space.”
Profile of the piece and Toni Dove at New York Times
Three month exhibition at the Ringling Museum.