I n January, I attended the MIT Reality Hack, an Extended Reality (XR) hackathon in Cam- bridge, Massachusetts as part of my profes- sional development tour. XR is an umbrella term that includes augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) mixed reality (MR), and any- thing in between. The MIT Real- ity Hack motto, “Hack to the Future”, unfolds annually as a by YAYOI KAMBARA
community-driven XR hackathon, attracting a diverse ensemble of XR professionals, brand mentors, creators, participants, students, and tech enthusiasts. There are
also a LOT of prizes! This gathering serves as a nexus where attendees engage in tech workshops, discussions, project collabora- tions, and innovative endeavors. But what exactly is hacking? It’s the art of coaxing hardware into performing beyond its prescribed functions, a technic- ity articulated by phenomenology philos- opher Erin Manning. In her book Always More Than One , she draws parallels between dance-making, specifically Wil- liam Forsythe’s choreography, and impro- visation emphasizing the importance of pushing the boundaries of technical vocab- ulary to spark new creations, a technic- ity or a hacking, underscoring how cho- reographers and dance artists engage in
the manipulation of language and gestures of movement to cultivate invention. 1 The best part of this event is the wide range of backgrounds and skill levels of attendees from all over the world. Although the event requires an application process and com- munity agreements with check-ins, I had the opportunity to meet people from the XR industry, academics, and people who simply love to play, fail, and play again. My collab- orators NI DO TO XR — an exhibit on the choreographic research for IKKAI featur- ing interactive technologies such as an Obon dance tutorial hologram and a video game of packing and unpacking — encouraged me to
1 Manning, Erin. 2012. Always More than One. Duke University Press EBooks . doi.org/10.1215/9780822395829 DANCING TOWARDS FUTURING THE NEXUS OF DANCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIAL CHANGE WITH XR (EXTENDED REALITY)
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