In Motion: First of its Kind Interactive Exhibit Presented by Purdue Galleries

In Motion is an interactive installation utilizing machine learning and computer vision to track the physical coordinates of visitors to the Ringel Gallery and is the first interactive exhibit to be presented in Purdue Galleries. In Motion opened on August 14 as part of the BGR Entertainment Challenge, exposing incoming students to the possibilities of collaboration between the arts and sciences. The data collected from the motion tracking system impacts sound, video, and images in real-time creating a unique co-authored work of art with every participant’s experience. In Motion is a collaborative, interdisciplinary work with participating artists and engineers from the fields of Computer Science, Dance, Electrical Engineering, Electric-Time Based Art, Mathematics & Statistics, and Music.

"In Motion is a first-of-its-kind exhibition for Purdue Galleries," says Erika Kvam, Director of Purdue Galleries. "I was really impressed with the work done by Renee and the way she inspired students to think and code so creatively. For me, this exhibition was a rare opportunity to showcase pioneering art by our own students and faculty--something that is truly unique to Purdue."

In Motion was conceived by Renee Murray, Dance Senior Lecturer, in 2022 as a way to connect dance, engineering, and computer science students engaging in a research project that fuses the arts and sciences. As a dance artist and educator working in the movement styles of modern, post-modern and contemporary dance, Murray often investigates audience participation, improvisation, and technology to create works that include an element of spontaneity and indeterminacy. Along with her fellow VIP mentor Professor Frederick C. Berry and former VIP mentor Clinical Associate Professor Davin Huston, they tasked the VIP students to create a system that detects the changing location of multiple people in space and transmits this data in real-time for artists to use within their creative process and art.

Clinical Assistant Professor of Music Monte Taylor and ETB artist Abinash Mallick joined the In Motion creative team to share their unique perspectives on participatory art and technology. Taylor’s music explores how live motion tracking interacts with the practice of live-generated sound, integrating sound with dance using the In Motion technology. Mallick’s work merges generative art, movement, and auditory elements to create a collective interactive experience.

In Motion uses machine learning and object detection techniques to perform real-time pose estimation. The system captures live video feed through a webcam and processes it to detect and track human key points, such as shoulders, wrists, eyes, ears, knees, and other joints. The detected coordinates are then transmitted over a WebSocket server to ensure low-latency communication. This setup will enable the system to provide accurate and real-time pose data to the sound, video, and images creating a relationship between the viewer and the art.

"Projects like this explore ways leading edge technological advances can inform dance and performance," says Rich Dionne, co-director of the Fusion Studio for Entertainment and Engineering. The BGR Entertainment Challenge is a collaboration between the Fusion Studio and Orientation Programs providing seed grants for the development of installation projects that explore art, technology, and interactivity during the Boiler Gold Rush new student orientation program. "Many artists are anxious about the impact of machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms on creative endeavor--rightfully so, given some of the ways publicly available generative tools are trained off of the art of many creatives without compensation and recognition. Projects like In Motion that explore ways these algorithms can be ethically and intentionally utilized as part of the creative process open up new avenues for creative exploration and technical research."

In Motion has been funded in part through the generous support of the BGR Entertainment Challenge and Fusion Studio for Entertainment and Engineering and is in partnership with the Department of Theatre and Dance, Purdue Polytechnic Institute’s School of Engineering Technology, Fusion Studio for Entertainment and Engineering, and the Machine Learning in Motion Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) course. Thus far thirty-two undergraduate students have participated in this research project. Murray and Berry continue to mentor student in the development of the In Motion system and will present a new iteration of the project in the spring 2025 semester.