I have been for a while intrigued by the idea of translating physical movement into sound. The idea, which isn’t new at all, still fascinated me from the point of view of reversed dance. People react to the structured sound in the form of music all the time. What if we will do it the other way around, to compose the music by dancing, turning our bodies into musical instrument?

Probably the most known similar concept was developed by British composer and singer Imogen Heap when she introduced in 2010 her MI.MU Gloves, musical gloves which allowed her to control her music performance on the move.

I am aiming to create an interactive body suit, which will include gloves too, partially inspired by Imogen Heap’s concept, but include and employ different parts of the body like all limbs and possibly neck and hips as well and combine the use of the suit with an interactive laser installation.

I will be developing this concept in collaboration with music producer, singer, performer and kinaesthetic artist Ona Tzar. The creative input of ‘a dancer’ will be an important part of the project in order to accustom its function to the live performance.

What will be used in the final piece and how it will work is at this point unknown but there are several features which I would like to achieve and keep them as basis. I am aiming for actual devices to be as discreet as possible and final suit to be also fashionable and to become an art piece itself whilst maintaining its high functionality. The suit will become an art piece in intersection of sound arts, music performance, dance performance and fashion.

I started to research various technologies and concepts which could be potentially included in the suit. At this early stage, I am exploring wireless data streaming using the absolute orientation sensor BNO055, Bluetooth technology, Arduino and estimating orientation using sensor fusion, ultrasonic ranging module HC – SR04 and flex bend sensors which were by the way used in Imogen Heap’s gloves as well.