The world’s first mi.mu wearable tech gloves cross-arts performance

A Musical Storyteller Using Wearable Tech Gloves From The Future

Theo Panaritis
Aug 27, 2017 · 2 min read

Multi-awarded PhD researcher Shama Rahman combined science and art on stage on May 24th at the Southbank, as part of The Alchemy festival. She brought her sitar cabaret and libretto performance to the future utilising pioneering smart clothing called mi.mu, wearable tech gloves that enabled her to control the music with gestures while interacting with the accompanying dancers.

The mi.mu gloves were used as a centrepiece during the performance to bring together music, visuals and dancers while Shama Rahman performed her new album ‘Truth Be Told’. The album is a transformative journey told through personal life experiences, an attempt to answer Sufi poet Rumi’s questions “Is it True?”, “Is it Necessary?”, “Is it Kind?”.

Shama Rahman is bringing sitar outside of its Indian norm, exploring electro-acoustic cross-genre songs, highlighting the instrument’s versatility with jazz improvisation, electronica, urban and world beats in combination with Indian/Western classical melodies and folk storytelling.

The stage on her fingertips

For Shama the mi.mu wearable tech gloves have become essential, as they sense her movements allowing her to trigger samples and control music parameters directly with gestures, so the movements can be choreographed into a form of dance, leading and led by music.

Shama believes that music and technology have a strong relationship. “Technology is advancing every single day, and that means music is too. I’ve studied this first-hand for my PhD in Neuroscience of Musical Creativity. That has made me want to push all creative boundaries as far as they will go.”

“I know that my live interpretations of this album could open many doors and make people think about the future of music. That’s where I want to be.” — Shama Rahman

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