Grant: Engage Grants Program

Dance is one of the art forms that has been the slowest to adopt technology. One of the reasons is that choreographers and dancers often are reluctant to let the technology get between their creative process and the live kinaesthetic experience. In addition, traditional desktop computers with keyboards and mouse as interface are cumbersome to include in the rehearsal. Therefore, with the recent advances in multi-touch interfaces and the more portable platforms such as the iPad, there exists an opportunity to apply new hardware to this creative process. An iPad device provides a unique set of challenges and opportunities for the user to interface with the machine. Every iPad device comes equipped with an accelerometer and multi-touch sensors, so that this platform allows the user to interface with the computer in a more intuitive fashion. This proposal aims to establish a collaboration between Credo Interactive Inc. and the Applied Research Lab (ARL) at Trinity Western University that focuses on re-implementing a simplified version of DanceForms (Credo Interactive's choreography software) as an application for the iPad platform. Credo has extensive experience in creating software for supporting choreographers in the creation and animation of new dances. ARL has also accumulated expertise in developing applications for the iPad / iPhone platform for people with accessibility issues. Through this project, these organizations can create a mutually beneficial collaboration which draws on each other's strengths.