[UCI-Calit2] Visualizing Motion Capture Data in the Arts - a SURF-IT Seminar

[Stuart Ross]

Calit2 presents another in the series of summer seminars by faculty mentors for SURF-IT, Calit2's interdisciplinary summer research program for undergraduates. 

"Active Space: Visualizing Motion Capture Data"
by
Professor John Crawford
Assistant Professor of Dance and Media Arts
and Director, UCI Dance Film Festival
      Undergraduate SURF-IT Fellow:  Quin Kennedy, Computer Science

Tuesday, July 24
Calit2 Building, Room 3008
12:00 noon
A light lunch will be available at 11:30, prior to the seminar.

After a short seminar presentation, participants will be invited to experience the Active Space work directly, in the New Media Arts Lab, room 2100 downstairs.  The event will conclude around 1:00 p.m.

Active Space is an interactive media system incorporating video-based motion tracking, motion capture, real-time video and audio synthesis, high bandwidth networking, and multi-channel visuals and sound.  It is used to create interdisciplinary dance and theatre performances and media installations. The system continually senses, measures and responds to the movement of participants, providing an array of tools with which to engage and “play" the space as an instrument.  Motion tracking involves real-time sensing and analysis of location, speed, duration and various other characteristics of movement.  The results of this analysis are fed to a computer system that generates video and audio in response to the movement.  Typical applications of motion capture tend to result in realistic animations, but the aesthetic focus of our Active Space work goes beyond realism to explore notions of imagistic association, embodiment and reflexivity.  We are particularly interested in the dynamic that develops between improvisational and compositional elements.