Karada Tap: Embodied Appreciation of Tap dance for the deaf

Abstract

To make it possible for the deaf and hard of hearing to enjoy to appreciate the performance of tap dancers, we developed a system called “Karada Tap”, which transfers the haptic sensation of Tap Dance from the stage to the audience seats in collaboration with a tap dance unit and a science museum. This system was used in a public performance and we confirmed that the system could provide the sense of rhythm to the deaf and hard-of-hearing audience so that we could help the tap dancers to share the fun of dance to the audience with disabilities.