City Tech’s Center for Holistic Integration (CHI)

BSP‐GRAPHIC IMAGERY WIKI

City Tech’s Center for Holistic Integration (CHI) launched in spring 2024 as a small pilot, bringing together the expertise of Dr. David B. Smith and Professor Christopher Swift with the creative energy of students Samuel Cheung and Tshari Yancey. Dr. Smith—a composer, sound designer, and inventor on City Tech’s faculty since 1997—helped build one of the first live-performance virtual-orchestra systems and secured a $780,000 Alfred P. Sloan grant. Professor. Swift, an associate professor of theatre, earned his Ph.D. in 2012 with a focus on medieval Iberian performance, puppetry, and the phenomenology of theatrical space.

For its first mini-exhibition (part of City Tech’s response to anti-Asian hate), the CHI team staged a Wayang kulit shadow-puppet performance that blended centuries-old Javanese storytelling with modern digital tools. Samuel Cheung handled the virtual backgrounds and puppet design, while Tshari Yancey crafted the story, fleshed out each character’s traits, and wrote the full script.

What started as a single showcase has since grown into a broader research initiative exploring the “blended pace”—how AI collaboration can enrich human creativity across performance, narrative, and beyond. CHI continues to delve into Wayang kulit’s rich traditions and reimagine them for today’s digital stage.