This Springer Brief will champion the specialist knowledge that is being cultivated by dancers working in the field of human-computer interaction. At its core, it will advocate for the unique experiences and expertise dancers acquires as the embodied agents within these new performance paradigms. By presenting a series of empirical case studies in Extended Reality (XR), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics, the book will forefront the important knowledge of the dancer-as-experiencer and highlights their growing sensibilities as a key attribute for the successful development of human-computer connections. Whilst digital performance has a comprehensive and rich heritage, there is still a lack of material that explores how such paradigm-shifts are influencing the embodied acts of creation in practice.

Kerry Francksen is a dance artist and researcher with over twenty years’ experience in academia and the creative industries. Supported by the AHRC and The Daphne Jackson Trust, she is currently a Research Fellow at C-DaRE (The Centre for Dance Research) at Coventry University, where she concentrates on how emerging technologies influence performance practices, especially from the perspective of dancers’ embodied experience. 

As an artist, she explores the subtle interactions between bodies and emerging technologies, emphasising intimacy, presence, and togetherness. Her portfolio spans live-mediated performances, dance for screen, digital dance installations, improvisation, and robotics, blending bodily movement, technology, and electroacoustic sound to create meditative and sensual experiences.

With extensive experience in education, she has served as a senior lecturer, PhD supervisor and examiner, HE external examiner, and advisor for BA and MA programmes at several universities. She was also a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and holds an MA in Dance Video Installation Art and a PhD in Performance and Digital Art. Her work has appeared in books and peer-reviewed journals, including Leonardo Transactions and Body, Space, Technology journal. Her performance work has also been showcased and screened nationally and internationally. Kerry also serves as an associate editor for the International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media (IJPADM) and has guest-edited two special issues: ‘Live Performance in Digital Environments’ (June 2024) and ‘VR and Performance’ (2018).