{"id":383811,"date":"2026-04-17T06:53:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T06:53:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/383811\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T06:53:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T06:53:18","slug":"dentsu-lab-tokyos-breakthrough-waves-of-will-lets-als-sufferer-return-to-stage-via-brainwaves-campaign-brief-asia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/383811\/","title":{"rendered":"Dentsu Lab Tokyo\u2019s breakthrough \u2018Waves of Will\u2019 lets ALS sufferer return to stage via brainwaves \u2013 Campaign Brief Asia"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t April 17 2026, 12:43 pm | BY Kim Shaw | No Comments<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Dentsu<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t \tDentsu Lab Tokyo, in collaboration with technology partner NTT, has unveiled Waves of Will \u2013 a groundbreaking creative technology project that allowed Breanna Olson, a former professional dancer and mother of three living with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), to perform live on stage again through a mixed-reality avatar controlled entirely by her brainwaves.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The project received global media coverage through BBC Worldwide<\/a>, reaching more than 600 million people and drawing widespread acclaim for its intersection of human expression, inclusion and cutting-edge technology.<\/p>\n

Waves of Will is the latest solution within Dentsu Lab\u2019s ongoing program of work \u2018Project Humanity\u2019, an initiative that began several years ago, exploring how innovation and technology can help restore personal expression, identity, dignity and participation for people living with motor degenerative diseases, specifically focussing on those with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).<\/p>\n

With the very rapid deterioration of the physical abilities of those with ALS, innovation plays a critical role in designing solutions quickly and that can adapt to the fast-changing needs of the individual.<\/p>\n

An earlier solution developed by Dentsu Labs was \u2018All Players Welcome\u2019, created with DJ Masa, a music artist living with ALS who lost the ability to use his hands and therefore make and perform his music. The team developed a solution that enabled him to DJ using eye-gaze tracking technology.<\/p>\n

Following the success of this chapter, the Dentsu Labs team then worked with DJ Masa to connect EMG devices that could detect weak muscle signals in other parts of his body, to connect movement to a virtual avatar.<\/p>\n

Naoki Tanaka, Global Chief Creative Officer at Dentsu Lab Tokyo said: \u201cThis meant Masa could interact with audiences through a virtual avatar mimicking his intentions. However, EMG and eye-gaze tracking will eventually become irrelevant as the disease progresses, leaving brainwave-based communication as a last resort for people living with ALS to express themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

VIEW DJ MASA CASE FILM<\/a><\/p>\n

VIEW DJ MASA BEHIND THE SCENES 1<\/a>
VIEW DJ MASA BEHIND THE SCENES 2<\/a><\/p>\n

Tanaka explained this latest chapter, \u2018Waves of Will\u2019 was created in partnership with Breanna Olson, a former dancer and mother of three, living with ALS.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe team created a first-of-its-kind dance performance, where Breanna was able to perform on live stage, in mixed reality, using her brainwaves. Using a non-invasive EEG headset that we updated with machine learning, Breanna was able to control a virtual version of herself on stage in real-time through brainwave detection,\u201d said Tanaka.<\/p>\n

\u201cBreanna could shape the choreography and perform again to a full theatre audience despite the rapid progression of the disease. The piece was a statement of her strength and determination, to not be reduced to her diagnosis, as so many are in modern society.<\/p>\n

As for what\u2019s next, Tanaka said: \u201cOne inspiring possibility the team often talks about is a future performance where Breanna dances while DJ MASA provides the music. The team is also in conversation with a number of charities and governing bodies connected to MND to find ways to expand the impact of the technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn essence the technology is a controller, most recently operating a virtual dancer, but the applications are endless. From education, work, communication or gaming the interface enables people living disabilities to participate in society once again\u201d.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Dentsu
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Dentsu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"April 17 2026, 12:43 pm | BY Kim Shaw | No Comments Dentsu Lab Tokyo, in collaboration with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383812,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[111,139,69,145],"class_list":{"0":"post-383811","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-newzealand","10":"tag-nz","11":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}