The eerie 'forced exoskeleton rave' where dancers' bodies are controlled by ROBOTIC SUITS

A robotic exoskeleton and performance art installation is automating the discipline of synchronized dance. At San Francisco's Gray Area Festival, an annual event that combines art, technology, and music, an exhibit called'Inferno' is employing robotics to turn people into puppets. With an exoskeleton and a'dark industrial' soundtrack, Inferno is commandeering participants' limbs for an enthralling -- if off-putting -- performance. Participants in the piece are subject to the input of a'DJ' who controls both the music and how subjects dance to it'Each robot is designed to perform dynamic movements choreographed and activated by the artists, mobilizing the performers to dance in time to the dark, industrial techno soundtrack for the audience,' says a description on the event's website. The installation, which described by one Twitter user as a'forced rave' is not just fascinating to watch, but according to the routine's creators, Louis-Philippe Demers and Bill Vorn, is designed to stoke conversations about agency and technology.