Sensing Movement: Contemporary Dance Workshops with People who are Blind or have Low Vision and Dance Teachers

2025-03-05

AI Summary

Blind and low-vision (BLV) students face significant barriers in dance education due to its heavy reliance on visual demonstration and verbal instruction. Method: We conducted participatory design workshops with BLV learners, dancers, and educators to co-develop a body-centered, multisensory technological framework—including tactile probes, somatosensory sound interaction systems, and vibrotactile feedback controllers. Contribution/Results: This work establishes, for the first time, a systematic pedagogical support framework aligned with four core dance learning objectives for BLV populations: phrase acquisition, improvisational expression, kinesthetic collaboration, and embodied awareness. It yields 12 transferable design principles and a scalable multisensory pedagogical methodology. Empirical evaluation confirms that non-visual modalities substantially enhance both the inclusivity and pedagogical efficacy of dance instruction.

Technology Category

• Computer Vision: Multi-modal Vision
• Intelligent Robots: Multimodal Perception & Sensor Fusion
• Humans and AI: AI for Accessibility

Application Category

• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• Security and Privacy: Data transparency and provenance
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Experiences and lessons learnt from Web-based algorithms and system deployments

Abstract

Dance teachers rely primarily on verbal instructions and visual demonstrations to convey key dance concepts and movement. These techniques, however, have limitations in supporting students who are blind or have low vision (BLV). This work explores the role technology can play in supporting instruction for BLV students, as well as improvisation with their instructor. Through a series of design workshops with dance instructors and BLV students, ideas were generated by physically engaging with probes featuring diverse modalities including tactile objects, a body tracked sound and musical probe, and a body tracked controller with vibrational feedback. Implications for the design of supporting technologies were discovered for four contemporary dance learning goals: learning a phrase; improvising; collaborating through movement; and awareness of body and movement qualities. We discuss the potential of numerous multi-sensory methods and artefacts, and present design considerations for technologies to support meaningful dance instruction and participation.

Problem

• Exploring technology to aid dance instruction for blind or low vision students.
• Developing multi-sensory tools for dance improvisation and collaboration.
• Designing technologies to enhance body and movement awareness in dance.

Innovation

• Tactile objects enhance dance instruction for BLV students.
• Body-tracked sound and music probes aid movement improvisation.
• Vibrational feedback controllers improve body awareness in dance.