Human Interface is a piece for two dancers and two
industrial robots by dancer-choreographer Thomas Freundlich. The
programmed movements of the robots are mechanically precise, yet
surprisingly human. The robots are like animate beings with their own
personalities, the equals of their human dance partners. The
groundbreaking technology used in this production enables safe movement –
for the first time ever – within the immediate proximity of industrial
robots. The spacious Pannuhalli stage at Helsinki's Cable Factory
provides an interesting post-industrial backdrop for the unprecedented
encounter between robots and humans.
"One of the most fascinating aspects of working with industrial robots is our incredibly strong tendency to see machines as living, even conscious creatures. Strangely, the robots often seem to be at their most interesting when they're programmed to move least like machines. If you make the robot move like a bird, dinosaur or some weird creature we don't even have a name for – well, all of a sudden you get involvement, you get empathy, you get a genuine emotional connection with a machine that's designed to weld cars. This I find incredibly fascinating, as it leads us into some very deep pathways of thought in evolutionary biology and psychology."
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