DESSAIM - swarms choreography

DESSAIM collective is composed of engineering experts in robotics, computer science, and biomechanics, as well as artists in dance, movement, puppetry, and object theater, along with specialists in the functional and expressive analysis of movement and teaching and learning. Together, they study the expressive possibilities generated by the variation of movements in aerial and terrestrial robotic swarms. Recovered/​recycled materials will transform their appearance and environment, allowing them to become, either together or individually, an expressive and poetic matter in constant motion. The works resulting from this project carry the potential to change the audience’s perception of robots and even generate empathy among the audience for the movement of these artificial beings and the movement of materials.

The project, funded by the PRISME-ART program of the FRQ, brings together the team members into a swarm-like group working with three types of robotic swarms: 1- CrazyCognies (small aircraft), 2-Dingos (wheeled platforms with a Kinova robotic arm), and 3-Zooids on the table, for which choreographic writing is mobilized to engage with moving human swarms (participant audiences). During our inter-swarm explorations, the functionality of the robotic entities is diverted to highlight their expressiveness through variations in their dynamic qualities. Recovered/​recycled materials transform their appearance and environment, allowing them to become, either collectively or individually, an expressive and poetic substance in constant motion. The performance-installations resulting from these explorations, in relation to humans, carry the potential to change the audience’s perception of robots, even generating empathy in them towards the movement of these artificial beings and materials.