Teaching AI to Dance
September 7, 2021 | Georgia TechEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
Brian Magerko, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, has received a $573,561-grant from the National Science Foundation to further his work at the intersection of cognition, performance, and artificial intelligence.
The grant (NSF 2123597) will fund “research to develop a computational architecture (called PACE) to model embodied and co-creative behavior between humans and embodied intelligent machines,” according to the NSF award.
The research team will study human dancers and develop artificial intelligence agents to “co-create” with humans. The work will culminate in a live AI dance performance with the Kennesaw State University School of Dance faculty and students.
The goal is to “develop a co-creative AI that approaches expert-level participatory sensemaking in contemporary dance and train this agent to create a curated improvisational partner,” according to the NSF award.
One inspiration for the project is LuminAI, a dance installation created by Magerko and his team that allows people to dance with an AI dancer via their shadows.
LuminAI uses Microsoft Kinect videogame devices to capture the movements of a human dance partner and projects them as a silhouette onto a screen. The computer then uses artificial intelligence based on a theory of dance and movement called Viewpoints to determine how to match the human partner’s moves.
“We’ll be using different technologies and in a performance setting, so that will open up some new possibilities, like dancers performing with AI both on stage and in a virtual space via motion capture suits,” Magerko said. “The show is a long way off, and there is a lot of science and technology development that needs to happen first.”
The project, scheduled to run three years, is expected to lay the groundwork for the development of other applications that could benefit from such improvisational abilities, including physical therapy, design brainstorming, or future experiences with robots in the home.
Magerko is also co-founder of EarSketch, an innovative educational platform created by Magerko and Jason Freeman, the chair of the School of Music. With it, students learn to code in Python or JavaScript through music and creative discovery.
In 2018, the NSF awarded Magerko and Freeman $2.1 million to explore adding an AI co-creative to that program. That work is currently in the testing phase in high school computer science classrooms in Georgia and Florida, Magerko said.
LMC is a unit of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.
Read the original article, here.
Suggested Items
National Security Contracts Secured by SAIC Top $284 Million in Early 2024
03/18/2024 | SAICScience Applications International Corp. announced it received $284 million in awards from the United States intelligence community in January and February of 2024.
National Security Contracts Secured by SAIC Top $284 Million in Early 2024
03/15/2024 | BUSINESS WIREScience Applications International Corp. announced it received $284 million in awards from the United States intelligence community in January and February of 2024.
National Security Contracts Secured by SAIC Top $284 Million in Early 2024
03/14/2024 | SAICScience Applications International Corp. announced it received $284 million in awards from the United States intelligence community in January and February of 2024.
Arch Systems Showcases Cutting-Edge Manufacturing Solutions at IPC APEX EXPO 2024
03/12/2024 | Arch SystemsArch Systems, a leader in machine data and manufacturing analytics, will exhibit at the 2024 IPC APEX EXPO, taking place from April 9-11 at the Anaheim Convention Center in California.
Dr. Jennie Hwang to Deliver Courses on AI, High Reliability at IPC APEX EXPO 2024
03/05/2024 | Dr. Jennie HwangDr. Jennie Hwang will deliver two Professional Development Courses on “Artificial Intelligence Era—Opportunities, Challenges, Possibilities” (PD21), and “High Reliability Electronics for Harsh Environments” (PD7) at IPC APEX 2024 on Sunday, April 7 and Monday, April 8, respectively. Hwang, chair of the AI Committee of National Academies/DoD AI study, Panel of National AI Institute of NSF, and Committee of Strategic Thinking for Engineering Research in the Era of Artificial Intelligence of NSF, brings broad-based information and insights through an integrated perspective to the AI course.