Meet ICDS7 Keynote: Pieter-Jan Maes
Pieter-Jan Maes is professor at IPEM, Ghent University, Belgium
Pieter-Jan Maes is professor in the field of systematic musicology, and coordinator of the research institute IPEM and the Art and Science Interaction Lab (ASIL, www.asil.ugent.be) within the University of Ghent.
The IPEM team's research concerns embodied and social interaction with music. Digital innovative technologies play a central role in this, both in terms of fundamental knowledge acquisition, as well as the development of new artistic-creative possibilities in terms of human experience and interaction with music. We focus especially on the possibilities of extended reality (XR), artificial intelligence (AI) and data networks.
Virtual embodiment in music art and science: Augmenting human music interaction through eXtended Reality and data science
Lived, coordinated bodily interaction lies at the heart of music and performance art. It activates and enriches powerful human capacities such as (inter)subjective expression, dialogue, and understanding. At IPEM, we integrate empirical, data-driven methodologies with advanced digital technologies to deepen both the understanding and the creative application of principles of embodied interaction in performance art. In my talk, I will focus on the potential and limitations of body motion capture, brain imaging, extended reality (XR), and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for ‘art and science’. For science, these technologies offer new lenses for observation and experimentation. The inherent limitations of digitally 'capturing' embodied artistic practices are not seen as obstacles, but rather as opportunities to reveal crucial aspects of meaningful interaction. For artistic practice, these technologies create new ‘ecologies’ of creative, embodied practices and knowledge transmission—not as simulations or replacements of the physical, but as tools to augment physical experience. I will illustrate this art-and-science approach to embodied interaction in performance art with recent studies and creative applications developed at IPEM ( www.xrhil.ugent.be ).