A Constructed Response: Designing and Choreographing Robot Arm Movements in Collaborative Dance Improvisation

2025-05-29

AI Summary

This study investigates how dancers co-create movement with a non-anthropomorphic robotic arm (UR5e) in both improvisational and choreographed contexts. Employing participatory workshops—comprising dyadic (human-robot) and quartet (three dancers + one robot) configurations—we integrated dance anthropology fieldwork, qualitative behavioral analysis, and HCI methods to examine dynamic shifts in embodied interaction, spatial perception, and co-presence. Our empirical findings reveal that dyadic setups significantly enhance movement fluency and mutual presence, whereas quartet configurations improve spatial awareness but disrupt kinematic continuity—demonstrating a contextual shift in the robot’s role from “co-performer” to “stage medium.” Based on these insights, we propose design principles for non-anthropomorphic robots in artistic practice, grounded in embodied interaction theory. This work contributes both a theoretical framework and methodological toolkit for human-robot co-creation in performance arts.

Technology Category

• Intelligent Robots: Human-Robot Interaction
• Humans and AI: Interaction Techniques and Devices
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Computational Creativity

Application Category

• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Data quality aspects of human-annotated datasets
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Practical large-scale studies of user experience

Abstract

Dancers often prototype movements themselves or with each other during improvisation and choreography. How are these interactions altered when physically manipulable technologies are introduced into the creative process? To understand how dancers design and improvise movements while working with instruments capable of non-humanoid movements, we engaged dancers in workshops to co-create movements with a robot arm in one-human-to-one-robot and three-human-to-one-robot settings. We found that dancers produced more fluid movements in one-to-one scenarios, experiencing a stronger sense of connection and presence with the robot as a co-dancer. In three-to-one scenarios, the dancers divided their attention between the human dancers and the robot, resulting in increased perceived use of space and more stop-and-go movements, perceiving the robot as part of the stage background. This work highlights how technologies can drive creativity in movement artists adapting to new ways of working with physical instruments, contributing design insights supporting artistic collaborations with non-humanoid agents.

Problem

• How dancers design movements with non-humanoid robot arms
• Impact of one-human-one-robot vs three-human-one-robot interactions
• Robot's role as co-dancer versus stage background in improvisation

Innovation

• Robot arm co-creates dance with humans
• One-to-one human-robot enhances movement fluidity
• Three-to-one scenario shifts robot perception