For the length of a battery life the AR.Drone took flight and engaged in a memorable dialogue with human and artificial performers at the MONSTRA in Lisbon. Evoking an alternative version of the ancient Greek myth, I-CARE-US is a new interactive digital performance that anticipates a not-so-distant future, where Unmanned Aerial Vehicles will be part of our domestic air space.
Delivering medicine, pizzas or newspapers, as contemporary versions of the carrier pigeon or even as falconry of the digital age, flying robots are invading the skies questioning their applications and the way they may share space with us. The narrative development of this performance also guides a parallel research project in human robot interaction, searching to apply insights from theatre robotics to the field of social robotics.
UAVs started recently to be part of artistic objects, as in the case of pieces like “Meet your creator” or “Spaxels”, where these flying robots are the sole performers in astonishing collective visual choreographies. In I-CARE-US they star along terrestrial and suspended human dancers, engaging in a mutual discovery, which evokes an interspecies dialogue exploring the limits of direct contact.