Designing Glitch Procedures and Visualisation Workflows for Markerless Live Motion Capture of Contemporary Dance

Abstract

This paper presents a case study in the exploration and creative usage of errors and glitches in the real-time markerless motion capture of contemporary dance. We developed a typology of MoCap failures comprised of seven categories, allowing the user to situate each distinct error in the respective stage of the motion capture pipeline. This way, glitch procedures for the creative use of 'bad' MoCap data were designed, resulting in uncommon avatar visualisations. We propose an additional 're-visualisation' module in our motion capture pipeline and avatar staging approach, which enables choreographers and digital artists to rapidly prototype their ideas in a mixed reality performance environment. Finally, we discuss how our extended MoCap pipeline and avatar staging set-up can support artists and researchers who aim at a flexible and adaptive workflow in real-time motion visualization. CCS CONCEPTS• Applied computing → Performing arts; • Computing methodologies → Motion capture; • Human-centered computing → Empirical studies in interaction design;

The Body Beyond Movement: (Missed) Opportunities to Engage with Contemporary Dance in HCI

“…1) clear theoretical contextualisation and scope: [37] state clearly what type and scope of performance theory they are referring to: "We are particularly interested in studies of choreography [14,39] and music [16], which offer a different lens into the creative process," 1 and explain how they will critically engage with the literature: "We build on these works to examine the use of artifacts in collaborative processes in music and dance: the relationships and forms of interactions that result, as well as their effect on creativity. "…”

“…As a result, a typology of motion capture errors has been presented. This is an example of collaborative results which can be not only applied artistically, but also serve to improve the hardware and software components of a system [39].…”

Sound Feedback for Social Distance: The Case for Public Interventions During a Pandemic

“…[94,107,108]. In essence, this bypasses the challenges articulated by Jürgens et al directed towards using an unobtrusive markerless motion capture technology in an on-stage environment for contemporary dance performance [109]. The authors highlight digital errors inflicted by particular lighting conditions, clothing contrast, as well as scenarios where performers were in close proximity to each other.…”

Sound Feedback for Social Distance: The Case for Public Interventions during a Pandemic

“…We consider the worthwhile benefits of a wearable solution that is more versatile in non-laboratory situations [95,108,109]. In essence, this bypasses the challenges articulated by Jürgens et al directed towards using an unobtrusive markerless motion capture technology in an onstage environment for contemporary dance performance [110]. The authors highlight digital errors inflicted by particular lighting conditions, clothing contrast, as well as scenarios where performers were in close proximity to each other.…”