Cybernetic Marionette: Channeling Collective Agency Through a Wearable Robot in a Live Dancer-Robot Duet

TL;DR

This paper presents DANCE^2, an interactive dance performance where audiences influence a wearable robot dancer through voting, revealing insights into collective agency, interaction design, and perceptions of influence in live digital art.

Contribution

It introduces a novel live performance framework enabling audience-driven control of a wearable robot dancer, exploring collective agency and interaction dynamics.

Findings

Audience felt their choices influenced the performance

Voting patterns were consistent across performances

Tension exists between perceived and actual agency

Abstract

We describe DANCE^2, an interactive dance performance in which audience members channel their collective agency into a dancer-robot duet by voting on the behavior of a wearable robot affixed to the dancer's body. At key moments during the performance, the audience is invited to either continue the choreography or override it, shaping the unfolding interaction through real-time collective input. While post-performance surveys revealed that participants felt their choices meaningfully influenced the performance, voting data across four public performances exhibited strikingly consistent patterns. This tension between what audience members do, what they feel, and what actually changes highlights a complex interplay between agentive behavior, the experience of agency, and power. We reflect on how choreography, interaction design, and the structure of the performance mediate this relationship, offering a live analogy for algorithmically curated digital systems where agency is felt, but not exercised.