Pilot: Increasing Creative Exploration with Computer Tools that Support Spontaneity & Embodiment

这个项目的目标是确定那些被设计用来支持自发性和具体化的工具是否可以增加用户的创造力。自发性和具体化是艺术中创造性工作的关键组成部分，特别是在构思和探索阶段，但在软件中却很少得到支持。有充分的证据表明，将它们纳入计算机工具有可能显著提高创造力。为了验证这一假设，新的计算工具将被开发用于交互式素描和动画。两个应用程序将成为目标：一个是自由形式的绘图和动画系统，允许用户通过在空间中移动跟踪标记来交互式地雕刻3D图像。然后，通过抓取自动适合它们的手柄并使用3D手势拖动这些手柄，这些绘图可以立即动画化。第二个应用程序将提供一个定义更狭义的任务：控制行走动画的样式。用户可以通过空间手势来定义行走模型中的参数。这两个应用程序都将被设计和评估以支持自发性和具体化。这项工作通过发现对创造力的新见解和通过创建支持创造性生产的新计算机工件来造福社会。表演界的成员将被纳入研究，从而导致与通常不参与技术开发的群体的交叉受精。结果将广泛发表，研究也将通过戏剧制作向公众展示，以及可能由此产生的新闻报道。本科生和研究生都将参与这项研究，包括女性等代表性不足的群体的成员。这项工作的结果也将包括在计算机科学和数字制作课程中。

The goal of this project is to determine if tools that are designed to support spontaneity and embodiment can increase user creativity. Spontaneity and embodiment are key components of creative work in the arts, particularly in the ideation and exploration phases, but have been poorly supported in software. There is good evidence that their inclusion in computer tools has the potential to significantly increase creativity. In order to test this hypothesis, novel new computational tools will be developed for interactive sketching and animation. Two applications will be targeted: One, a system for free-form drawing and animation, allows users to interactively sculpt 3D images by moving tracked markers through space. These drawings can then be immediately animated by grabbing handles that are automatically fit to them and dragging these with 3D gestures. The second application will provide a more narrowly defined task: controlling the style of a walking animation. The user will be able to do this by making spatial gestures to define the parameters in a walking model. Both of these applications will be designed and evaluated to support spontaneity and embodiment. This work benefits society through the discovery of new insights into creativity and by the creation of new computer artifacts that support creative production. Members of the performance community will be included in the research, leading to cross-fertilization with a group not normally involved in technology development. Results will be published broadly and the research will also be demonstrated to the public through a theatre production, along with the press coverage likely to result from that. Both undergraduate and graduate students will participate in the research, including members of underrepresented groups, such as women. The results of the work will also be included in courses in computer science and digital production.