Capturing Stillness: visualisations of dance through motion capture

该项目旨在将动作捕捉技术与培养对身体意识的注意力的既定动作实践相结合，特别是斯金纳释放技术(SRT)，以探索如何捕捉感觉意识以及可能出现的可视化效果。SRT是一种开创性的舞蹈方法，它是从一个简单的原则演变而来的，即当我们放弃习惯性的握手模式时，我们可以更自由、更清晰、更有力地移动。美国编舞琼·斯金纳是舞蹈即兴创作的先驱，也是玛莎·格雷厄姆和默斯·坎宁安剧团的前舞者，她在20世纪60年代的早期实验中创造了这项技术。SRT利用图像引导的地板工作来缓解紧张，促进一种毫不费力的移动，与整个自我的对齐整合在一起。触觉练习(伙伴“图形”)被用来给图像带来即时的动觉效果：自发的运动是由图像和引导的运动研究引起的。运动捕捉是从人类表演者那里获取运动数据的技术的总称，应用范围广泛，包括生物力学、体育科学、人体工程学、广告、电视和3D电脑游戏。作为电影和游戏产业的重要组成部分，动作捕捉也被融入到艺术活动中，但它需要一定的专业水平才能有效地使用它，这是艺术家们不易做到的。该项目将探索如何将SRT实践和相关实践的方法和原则转化为虚拟环境的可视化生产，以阐明当代界面设计和显示方法的想法，并更多地了解SRT作为一种运动学科。其目的是增强观众的互动体验，以产生新的艺术体验，这些体验具有智力和社交吸引力，并可以通过重新参与运动身体的复杂性，产生对我们与世界中我们自己的身体关系的新理解。因此，该项目的独特之处在于，它将绘制一种特定的舞蹈练习，将这种映射嵌入游戏引擎，并实时测试各种化身可视化，使观众能够互动并直接参与到这个过程中来。最后，这种互动将通过使用这些发现来增强，以使玩家/表演者沉浸在动作中，以创造新的表演空间和体验。

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.