This paper addresses the proposition of experiential design approaches in Human Computing Interaction [HCI] and Human Interface Devices [HID]. To amplify the relationship between performer and the spectator when using emergent technologies with real time performance tools, the author refers to a set of self-crafted electronic-performance tools and a performance. This paper opens a pathway for a larger proposal that asks the reader to consider: What are the ways in which we can engineer interfaces that validate the circulation of subjugated knowledges?

The authors describe a gesturally controlled improvisation system for an experimental pianist, developed over several laboratory sessions and used during a performance at the 2011 conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME). They discuss the architecture and performative advantages and limitations of the system, and reflect on the lessons learned throughout its development.

This paper describes the life (and death) of the interface in the installation Tiny Moments by David Strang. Tiny Moments is a sound and light interactive installation that explores natural phenomena surrounding heat, ice and presence/ proximity. This installation explores the process of natural materials in computer interaction in a way beyond simple hardware devices available to users. What is created is a space filled with ever changing rhythms of light and sound in complete synchronicity that no user feels to have any control of.

The authors describe Errors …, a performance installation in which an actor, equipped with muscle stimulators, addresses the audience in a constant stream of lecturing on the subject of man-machine relationship. While giving his lecture on this subject, the performer is being controlled by one selected audience member. The technology used for this is a modified and enhanced TENS device and gel patches on the body and face of the performer.

This paper describes an interactive dance/physical theatre work entitled Encoded , which made use of motion capture techniques and real-time fluid simulations to create systems intended to support, stimulate and augment live performance. Preliminary findings from a qualitative study of performers’ experiences with the system raise a number of issues, including the challenges of creating theatrical meaning with interactive systems, using Contact Improvisation as a metaphor for engaging creative systems, and the impact that large-scale projections can have on performers’ engagement.

Mapping digital sound to an acoustic input enables the performer and the software to ‘talk’ simultaneously. Whilst the performer has direct control over the acoustic outcome, the digital can become a means of destabilization because it is mediated through code. Musical expression substantiates as the performer addresses the unexpected resourcefully. This text describes the performative dynamics in terms of perceptual mechanics.

This paper builds on a developing movement practice that engages with the potential for creating a more intimate exchange between real-time image processing technologies and movement. Tracing notions of ‘sensing bodies’ and ‘relation,’ as significantly important to how a greater sense of intimacy and synergy between the two media (live/digital) might be achieved, the author’s focus has been to concentrate on the exchange that takes place between a dancer and her technological counterpart “in the moment of performance.”

This article describes a way to approach music sequencing, with particular focus on the generation of dynamic rhythm patterns. In contrast to the well known “step sequencer” or “piano roll” style interfaces that specify note pitches and amplitudes as values located at points in time, the device described here calculates note patterns from the sum of a series of discrete sinusoids. When these patterns trigger velocity sensitive percussion sounds, useful rhythms can be generated and transformed with very few controls.

The author presents the challenges and opportunities in the use of the electromyogram (EMG), a signal representing muscle activity, for digital musical instrument applications. The author presents basic mapping paradigms and the place of the EMG in multimodal interaction and describes initial trials in machine learning. It is proposed that nonlinearities in musical instrument response cannot be modelled only by parameter interpolation and require strategies of extrapolation. The author introduces the concepts of intention, effort, and restraint as such strategies, to exploit, as well as confront limitations of, the use of muscle signals in musical performance.

Springtime (Tron Theatre, Glasgow, 19 May 2012) was a computationally mediated theatrical performance involving Arab and Glaswegian-Arab actors and musicians. The project was produced by Ankur Theatre Productions, Scotland’s foremost black and ethnic minority theatre company. Springtime was directed by the dramaturge Shabina Aslam. Against the backdrop of the “Arab Spring” and its aftermath, the play explored issues of authenticity and identity as mediated through multiple technologies. This paper explores the impact and significance of the production and evaluates the use of Skype, social media and custom-made software in the writing, rehearsal and final performance stages of the play.