Interactive Music for Instrumented Dancing Shoes

Abstract

We have designed and built a pair of sneakers that each sense 16 different tactile and free-gesture parameters. These include continuous pressure at 3 points in the forward sole, dynamic pressure at the heel, bidirectional bend of the sole, height above instrumented portions of the floor, 3-axis orientation about the Earth's magnetic field, 2-axis gravitational tilt and low-G acceleration, 3-axis shock, angular rate about the vertical, and translational position via a sonar transponder. Both shoes transfer these parameters to a base station across an RF link at 50 Hz State updates. As they are powered by a local battery, there are no tethers or wires running off the shoe. A PC monitors the data streaming off both shoes and translates it into real-time interactive music. The shoe design is introduced, and the interactive music mappings that we have developed for dance performances are discussed.