Gone to Pieces

The dancer pictured here has not been blown to bits. But an Australian dance company, with an assist from German computer engineer Frieder Weiss, made it seem that way during a recent performance at the Sydney Opera House. Weiss has created a computer program called EyeCon that can cause even the most observant audience members’ eyes to deceive them. EyeCon translates a dancer’s movement and position on the stage into real-time reactive video projections. The special effects can make the dancers appear to float, shrink, grow, disappear, or in this case, disintegrate.