Capturing Stillness: visualisations of dance through motion capture

This project aims to bring together motion capture technology with established movement practices which cultivate attention on bodily awareness, and in particular Skinner Releasing Technique (SRT), to explore how sensorial awareness can be captured and what visualisations might emerge. SRT is a pioneering approach to dance which has evolved from the simple principle that when we are letting go of habitual holding patterns we can move more freely, articulately and powerfully. Joan Skinner, the American choreographer, dance improvisation pioneer and former dancer with the Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham companies, created the technique from early experiments in the 1960s. SRT utilizes image-guided floorwork to ease tension and promote an effortless kind of moving, integrated with alignment of the whole self. Tactile exercises (partner 'graphics') are used to give the imagery immediate kinaesthetic effect: spontaneous movement is evoked by imagery and guided movement studies. Motion capture is a generic name for the techniques which obtain motion data from human performers for a wide range of applications including biomechanics, sports science, ergonomics, advertising, TV and 3D computer games. Regarded as a significant component of the film and games industries, motion capture is also incorporated into arts events but it demands a level of expertise to use it effectively that is not readily achieved by artists.

The project will explore how the methods and principles which characterise the practice of SRT and related practices can 'translate' to the production of visualisations for virtual environments, to shed light on contemporary ideas of interface design and display methods, and to understand more about SRT as a movement discipline. The aim is to enhance the interaction experience for audiences to produce new art experiences which are intellectually and socially engaging and can, through a re-engagement with the complexity of the moving body, generate new understandings about our relationship with our own body within the world. The project is therefore unique in that it will map a specific dance practice, embed this mapping within a game engine and test a variety of avatar visualisations in real time allowing audiences to interact and be directly involved in the process. Finally this interaction will be augmented by using these findings to immerse the player/performer into the action to create new performance spaces and experiences.

The project will benefit a wide range of external users, organisations and industry experts. It builds on longstanding relationships with companies, venues, organisations, arts professionals and science experts: it is a particular strength of the proposal that it is actively supported by technology companies in the commercial private sector, as well as by arts organisations and HEIs. The project will develop these relationships; it will contribute to industry knowhow and profitability and enhance cultural and educational organisations' own public engagement and learning activities; and it is likely also to be of value to engineering, biomechanical and biomedical science. The project's outputs will thus have economic, social, cultural and educational impact in the UK and overseas, both within and beyond the academic community.
Arts/museums and industry/technology partners have a stake - cultural, financial - in ensuring wide public take-up of the project's deliverables, whether through participation in the artistic work or by use/purchase of the technological applications. HEI partners, whose interest in immersive and 3D technologies ranges from visual/media/performing arts to games to biosurgery, also have an interest in testing and trialling research outputs with wider constituencies in their own fields.
The project's cultural, social and educational impact will be delivered through a range of public events. With administrative and marketing support from Coventry University's Institute for Creative Enterprise (ICE) and the University's communications team, the project leader will work in close partnership with UK-based and international venues, individuals and organisations who will exhibit/show work in progress and completed work. Public engagement will be via the exhibition/installation/show itself and via associated events, planned with host organisations in response to their own outreach requirements and including talks, demonstrations and workshops which will give audiences 'hands on' experience of the new technologies. The work in the Dome/Planetarium, in particular, will attract audiences interested in 3D technologies who will encounter and experience dance in different ways, experience interactive art and provide the project with valuable information about user engagement in new environments. Materials generated through the project, particularly those relating to teaching ideas and software developments, will be disseminated as widely as possible in accessible and attractive ways to reach wide audiences.
The technological, economic and educational impact of the project will be through knowledge exchange with partners who have committed resources (expert advice, equipment) to the research programme. Via seminars, workshops, conferences and publications the project will provide outputs to academic researchers across the cited disciplines. These outputs will also have considerable value for training providers, in both the formal education and the commercial sectors, which use animation, performance, programming and 3D immersive technologies. Importantly, the research will support the commercial partners' development of wider uses for data capture technologies and muscle-modelling software, for entertainment, gaming, medical and other applications; and will enable market expansion both in the UK and overseas. The project leader, supported by the University's Business Development Team, will explore both commercial and non-commercial exploitation opportunities in collaboration with partners and other Coventry University faculties and institutes including the Serious Games Institute and the Health Design Technology Institute.