Augmented seeing and sensing

This chapter summarises my invited talk for the International Conference on Dance Data, Cognition and Multimodal Communication, which took place in Lisbon, Portugal in September 2019. I introduce some of the research topics currently being investigated at the Creative Coding Lab at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and I survey a range of contemporary techniques that can be meaningfully incorporated into arts and performance projects in order to articulate creative expressions at the intersections of art and technology. Specifically, I highlight trends in computational photography and machine learning related to sensing, interpreting, and inferring, and argue that successful creative projects that utilise new forms of computational media must incorporate critical perspectives that explore their effects on aesthetics, communication, and performance, as well as their potential societal impact. The chapter concludes by raising questions about challenges and opportunities for artists working with sensor technology and machine learning techniques.