T is for territory: Gathering data about human experience in Developmental Transformations and advancing technologies

Abstract

This article makes a comparison between developing technologies in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and a practice used by drama therapists called Developmental Transformations (DvT). Both technologies gather granular data on human bodies; however, AI does so in the virtual realm, whereas DvT necessitates a physical encounter. As a contribution to theory, this article raises questions about whether interactions with technological interfaces are actual, virtual or somewhere in-between, and about where our bodies intersect in that dimensional landscape. Is it possible for practitioners of drama therapy, specifically DvT, to be in conversation with the growing dominance of technologies operated through AI, and where do the boundaries of human territory fit in relation to both? The relationship between these two approaches to data gathering are explored through the use of arts-based research in the form of collage. Possible implications for future practice as research are considered.