{"530651":{"#nid":"530651","#data":{"type":"news","title":"You\u2019ll Never Dance Alone with This Artificial Intelligence Project","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EYour next dance partner might not be a person.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA new project from the Georgia Institute of Technology allows people to get jiggy with a computer-controlled dancer, which \u201cwatches\u201d the person and improvises its own moves based on prior experiences. When the human responds, the computerized figure or \u201cvirtual character\u201d reacts again, creating an impromptu dance couple based on artificial intelligence (AI).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hokq9eajp88\u0022\u003ELuminAI project\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;is housed inside a 15-foot-tall geodesic dome, designed and constructed by Georgia Tech digital media master\u2019s student Jessica Anderson, and lined with custom-made projection panels for dome projection mapping. The surfaces allow people to watch their own shadowy avatar as it struts with a virtual character named\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EVAI\u003C\/em\u003E, which learns how to dance by paying attention to which moves the current user (and everyone before them) is doing and when.\u0026nbsp;The more moves it sees, the better and deeper the computer\u2019s dance vocabulary. It then uses this vocabulary as a basis for future improvisation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cCo-creative artificial intelligence, or using AI as a creative collaborator, is rare,\u201d said Brian Magerko, the Georgia Tech digital media associate professor who leads the project. \u201cAs computers become more ubiquitous, we must understand how they can co-exist with humans. Part of that is creating things together.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe system uses Kinect devices to capture the person\u2019s movement, which is then projected as a digitally enhanced silhouette on the dome\u2019s screens. The computer analyzes the dance moves being performed and leans on its memory to choose its next move.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis episodic memory is filled with experiences of how people have danced with it in the past,\u201d said Mikhail Jacob, a computer science Ph.D. student and lead developer of the LuminAI technology. \u201cFor example, the computer learns to predict that when one person pumps their arms into the air, their partner is likely to do something similar. So on seeing that movement, the avatar might pump its arms sideways at the same pace or use that as the basis for its response.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team says this improvisation is one of the most important parts of the project. The avatar recognizes patterns, but doesn\u2019t always react the same way every time. That means that the person must improvise too, which leads to greater creativity all around. All the while, the computer is capturing these new experiences and storing the information to use as a basis for future dance sessions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHumans aren\u2019t fully in the driver\u2019s seat anymore. The process gives autonomy back to the computer,\u201d said Jacob. \u201cLuminAI forces a person to create something new\u0026nbsp;\u2014 potentially something better \u2014 with their partner because they\u2019re forced to take their (virtual) partner\u2019s actions into consideration.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe technology has broader implications than art. As Magerko explains it, these days AI mostly relies on instructions fed to it by humans, and programming a computer with every possible instruction is impossible.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThat\u2019s because humans are so unpredictable,\u201d says Magerko. \u201cLet\u2019s say a computer and a person are going to write a story together about a family conversation at a restaurant. The story could go in a typical fashion or veer wildly into novel territory. The computer won\u2019t do well unless it has been programmed with all of the pieces of knowledge that the story could possibly contain. However, if it can learn that knowledge from people and prior experiences, its improvisation can become somewhat consistent and accurate and the AI learning new story content (or dance moves) becomes part of the user experience.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELuminAI was unveiled for the first time this past weekend in Atlanta at the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.hambidge.org\/the-auction.html\u0022\u003EHambidge Art Auction\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;in partnership with the Goat Farm Arts Center. It was featured within a dance and technology performance, in a work called\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPost,\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;as a finalist for the Field Experiment ATL grant. T. Lang Dance performed set choreography with avatars and virtual characters within the dome. \u003Cem\u003EPost\u003C\/em\u003E is the fourth and final installment of Lang\u2019s \u003Cem\u003EPost Up\u003C\/em\u003E series, which focuses on the stark realities and situational complexities after an emotional reunion between long lost souls.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Research couples co-creativity with AI to develop unique collaborations"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELuminAI allows people to get move with a computer-controlled dancer, which \u201cwatches\u201d the person and improvises its own moves based on prior experiences. When the human responds, the computerized figure reacts again, creating an impromptu dance couple based on artificial intelligence.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Project allows people to dance with a virtual character, which learns from them and improvises."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2016-04-28 08:46:03","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:21:32","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-04-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-04-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"530611":{"id":"530611","type":"image","title":"LuminAI Dome","body":null,"created":"1461963600","gmt_created":"2016-04-29 21:00:00","changed":"1475895310","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:10","alt":"LuminAI Dome","file":{"fid":"88952","name":"dome_1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dome_1_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dome_1_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2608619,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/dome_1_0.jpg?itok=MKU42sIU"}},"530631":{"id":"530631","type":"image","title":"Mikhail Jacob and Brian Magerko","body":null,"created":"1461963600","gmt_created":"2016-04-29 21:00:00","changed":"1475895310","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:10","alt":"Mikhail Jacob and Brian Magerko","file":{"fid":"88953","name":"mikhail_and_brian.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mikhail_and_brian_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mikhail_and_brian_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1824257,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mikhail_and_brian_0.jpg?itok=5gu0G5OM"}},"530641":{"id":"530641","type":"image","title":"Jessica Anderson","body":null,"created":"1461963600","gmt_created":"2016-04-29 21:00:00","changed":"1475895310","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:10","alt":"Jessica Anderson","file":{"fid":"88954","name":"jessica_anderson.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/jessica_anderson_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/jessica_anderson_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":53610,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/jessica_anderson_0.jpg?itok=ux7w09QD"}}},"media_ids":["530611","530631","530641"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hokq9eajp88","title":"See a Video Demo"}],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"2556","name":"artificial intelligence"},{"id":"171984","name":"avatar"},{"id":"14469","name":"Brian Magerko"},{"id":"4251","name":"dance"},{"id":"124","name":"Digital Media"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003ENational Media Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}