Ghost in the Virtual Reality: Translating the human essence with motion captured dance

In the world of dance and its related disciplines, the ability of a performer to successfully ߢmoveߣ audience members enough to elicit an emotional reaction is vital. Certain factors such as the proximity of audience to performer and viewing a performance in real-time affect how this effect is achieved. When dance movement is digitised through moving image or animation, there is potential for loss in translation of the emotional feeling experienced during a live performance versus recorded live performance or animated performance. Conversely, a heightened sensation might occur through the use of cinematography, editing and special effects. This translation issue may be encountered when creating a virtual reality animation dance using motion capture since the technologies involved can both interfere or enhance the presentation of movement. Assuming that human essence needs to be captured along with physical motion in order to generate an emotional reaction, then the choreography and motion capture data become the ߢghostߣ that is transplanted from human into a new digital body. This separation then raises the question of how to maintain the subtleties required for communication that lead to generating empathy in viewers for a virtual performerߣs narrative. To address these issues, I engaged in a series of dance motion capture sessions for a virtual narrative about mental health as the basis for examining how a choreographer and motion capture dancer can work with the limitations of technology, rather than be limited, to produce useful data. Specific limitations included use of contemporary and somatic dance, a relatively low number of cameras and dots, no facial or hand data and the use of abstract humanoid figures. Although a universally applicable solution was not discovered, I was able to identify a set of strategies that would be useful to contemporary dance choreographers using motion capture technology for the first time. Furthermore, the strategies are intended for movement narratives rooted in portraying emotion rather than physical spectacle dependent on virtuosity and visual effects.

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Author and article information

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Eugenia S. Kim

Conference

Publication date: July 2019

Publication date (Print): July 2019

Pages: 250-255

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[0001]School of Creative Media

City University of Hong Kong

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/EVA2019.48

SO-VID: 639213ac-6512-4de6-ba80-a495de7cd345

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: Proceedings of EVA London 2019

Conference acronym: EVA 2019

Conference number:

Conference location: London, UK

Conference date: 8 - 11 July 2019

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: Electronic Visualisation and the Arts

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1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/EVA2019.48

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

REFERENCES

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E. WeitkampA. Mermikides 2016 Medical performance and the ‘inaccessible’ experience of illness: an exploratory study Medical Humanities 42 3 186 193
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Comments

Comment on this article

[1] J. O. BaileyJ. N. BailensonD. Casasanto 2016 When Does Virtual Embodiment Change Our Minds? Presence 25 3 222 233

[2] J. Birringer 2002 Dance and Media Technologies PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art 24 1 84 93

[3] K. M. Boydell 2011 Using performative art to communicate research: dancing experiences of psychosis Canadian Theatre Review 146 12 17

[4] J. C. P. ChanH. LeungJ. K. T. TangT. Komura 2011 A Virtual Reality Dance Training System Using Motion Capture Technology IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies 4 2 187 195

[5] R. E. CisnerosK. WoodS. WhatleyM. BuccoliM. ZanoniA. Sarti 2019 Virtual Reality and Choreographic Practice: The Potential for New Creative Methods Body, Space & Technology 18 1 1 32

[6] Company Chameleon 2016 Witness: Behind the scenes https://vimeo.com/185556787 retrieved 19 February 2019 )

[7] J. JamesT. IngallsG. QianL. OlsenD. WhiteleyS. WongT. Rikakis 2006 Movement-based Interactive Dance Performance MM ‘06 Proceedings of the 14th ACM International Conference on Multimedia 470 480

[8] OpenEnded Group 2019 Loops (2001-11 DOWNIE ESHKAR KAISER) http://openendedgroup.com/artworks/loops.html retrieved 16 March 2019 )

[9] G. Smith-NunesC. Neale 2017 [pain]Byte VR Storytelling & Classical Ballet Proceedings of EVA London 415 419

[10] G. Smith-NunesA. ShawC. Neale 2018 PainByte: Chronic Pain and BioMedical Engineering Through the Lens of Classical Ballet & Virtual Reality TEI ’18 Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction 493 497

[11] M. TakeuchiF. Phillips 2015 as.phyx.i.a http://www.asphyxia-project.com/film retrieved 16 March 2019 )

[12] Ubisoft 2019 Supported controllers for Just Dance 2019 https://support.ubi.com/en-GB/Faqs/000038593/Supported-controllers-for-Just-Dance-2019-JD2019 retrieved 16 March 2019 )

[13] E. WeitkampA. Mermikides 2016 Medical performance and the ‘inaccessible’ experience of illness: an exploratory study Medical Humanities 42 3 186 193

[14] Weta Digital (n.d.) Facets Weta Digital https://www.wetafx.co.nz/research-and-tech/technology/facets/ retrieved 16 March 2019 )

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