Semi Ryu, Director of VocingElder, Founder of CoPuppet
Associate Professor, Department of Kinetic Imaging, School of the Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
sryu2@vcu.edu/ www.semiryu.net
Project Advisors:
Dr. Tracey Gendron (Gerontology, Evaluation)
Associate Professor, Department of Gerontology, School of Allied Health, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Dr. Stefano Faralli (Interactive Technology, NLP: Natural Language Processing)
Professor, Computer Science, The University of Rome Unitelma Sapienza, Italy
Production Team: CoPuppet
CoPuppet is a virtual puppet company producing live 3D interactive performances that explore issues of bodies and experiences between virtual and actual space. The idea of a puppet company is dynamically expanded by using virtual puppets (3D interactive bodies) in a trans-disciplinary discussion between art, technology, and humanity.
Semi Ryu has worked on virtual puppetry projects in collaboration with Stefano Faralli since 2002, and in 2013 she founded CoPuppet to further extend her inquiries into the following topics:
1. Virtual puppetry: relationship of the actual and virtual body
2. Game documentary: human subject and philosophical inquiries
3. Play therapy: the psychic and emotional states of the performer and spectators
CoPuppet initiated its first production with the project “Targeting Eyes.” On July 2013, CoPuppet team successfully produced and performed their first production, “Targeting Eyes,” at the Brick Theatre, Brooklyn, NY. Its second project, ” VoicingElder: virtual puppetry assisting the elder’s life review,” expands the scope of the project to therapeutic interventions and community engagement. CoPuppet deeply investigates the psychic and emotional states of the user and spectators, to benefit those who have difficulties communicating in our society.
- Interactive Design: Omri Glaser
- Sentiment Analysis: Stefano Faralli
- 3D Modeling/Animation: Anne Lantz
- Sound: Zach Kurth Nelson
- Video Documentation: Brianna Ondris
- Editor/ Research: John Priestly
- Website/ Graphic Design: Ze Huang
Special Thanks to Sarah Cunningham (Funding Strategy, VCUarts-Director of Research), David Burton (Professor at Art Education), Hansung Ryu (Occupational Therapist)
Previous members(+Internship): Neal Swisher, Aurora Cooper, Matthew Sagesar, Ashleigh Starkey, Gerrit Bond, Samuel Bowman, Thomas Marlowe, Mason Fletcher
