Shadow communication: System for embodied interaction with remote partners

"Shadow Communication" system has been developed allowing others to communicate by means of their "shadows" in remote space. This is designed so that each participant's shadow enters into a space through a semi-transparent screen and interacts with another subject's shadow. This interaction occurs at a common 'stage' (a co-existing space) that can be self-organized. The interaction takes place in a spatial relationship ("ma"- perceptive distance or "Maai" in Japanese) and generates a situation where, seemingly, the participants are actually talking to each other in a face-to-face manner. Experiments on collaborative drawings or remote lecturing conducted with various subjects resulted in the different groups being properly positioned in their co-existing space, thus suggesting that the co-creative activities between the groups were successfully established.