DanceBits
An Educational Computing Kit for Supporting Dance Practices
Find this Publication at ACM TEI ’24: Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction — “DanceBits ‘It tells you to see us’: Supporting Dance Practices with an Educational Computing Kit”, (TEI ’24), ACM, New York, NY, USA, Article 2, 1–19.
My Time in the Project:
My Role:
Team:
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Location:
2.5 years, 2022-24
Research Assistant – Physical Computing, Hardware & Design
NYU SoftLab, Elevate Lab, STEM From Dance
Embedded Systems, SoC, PCB Design, Hardware Dev
NYU facilities, Brooklyn
How it All Started
Creating opportunities for learners to creatively engage with wearable computing beyond the constraints that many current educational kits face
We partnered with STEM From Dance, a non-profit organization that supports young women of color in creative production with dance. With them, our study identified three challenges with wearable technology:
- Ensuring consistent connectivity,
- Amplifying its expressive potential, and
- Streamlining circuit design to bolster the harmony between dance and technology.
With DanceBits, our goal is to bring exploratory embodied learning to computing educational experiences by centering dance in the system design.
“I think constructing hardware has been a big pain point. And the issue is, it varies, like bad soldering and they’re (students) like why doesn’t my circuit work?”
The Hardware Bits
DanceBits is a wire and PCB-based plug-and-play system consisting of a microcontroller, wires, push buttons, tilt sensors, LED strips, LED pixels, extenders, velcro, and magnets.
“It felt like Legos, like I had something to build...”
Design-Construct-Dance-Repeat
DanceBits was introduced in 2 usability studies – one with dance instructors and later with youth participants.
4-hour workshops – 3 Tasks
1) Introduction to DanceBits: Assemble a guided example with tilt sensors on the wrists controlling LED strips on the arms.
2) Dance Warm-up Wearing DanceBits: Learn and perform choreography to show the integration of dancing, storytelling, timing, and tempo with the technology they assembled.
3) Custom Choreo and Wearable Design:
Work in pairs to create
(a) a wearable design based on a theme – on a worksheet with a human figure to sketch out the placement of the electronics
(b) their own choreography – build and integrate DanceBits onto clothes, choreograph and perform based on a chosen theme
“I love the planning process...the worksheet...You felt like you were...an architect”
Learning with DanceBits
Rapid Wearable Construction & Iteration: Enables the ideation and construction of unique wearable technology designs quickly and independently.
Creative Expression Across Computing & Choreography: Inspires thoughtful connections across creative themes, electronics choices and placement, and dance movements.
Supporting Computing & Electronics Education: Facilitates intuitive understanding of electronics with sensors and LEDs.