Posts Tagged ‘Animation/Gaming’

Kinect Installation at Singapore Dance Fest

When Microsoft unleashed the Kinect last fall as an add-on for Xbox 360, hackers and geeks the world over were chomping at the bit to break in and figure out what it can do. That’s because the Kinect is a $150 piece of equipment that contains a super sophisticated camera that can detect depth (3D), color, speed and motion, as well as stereophonic microphones that can place sounds in space. As a result it’s basically a rudimentary brain that has both sight and sound senses and can capture and respond to the world like a sentient being (almost).

The list of Kinect hacks has been piling up since it was released last November, and it will keep growing thanks to Microsoft’s new Kinect Developers kit for Windows (apparently a Mac kit is in the works). Among the coolest developments is motion capture software like Jasper Brekelman’s Brekel that enables anyone to create their own mo-cap animations using the Kinect. Here is a preview of “Under the HUD” by Triangle Productions, an animated series using Brekel and Kinect’s motion capture capabilities. Although the choreography is not so impressive, they give great insight into how they are using the technology.

The sensors on the Kinect make it a powerful tool for intermedia performance. Amazing live interactive animations like those of Chunky Move’s “Mortal Engine” can be obtained using the Kinect for a tiny fraction of the cost and technological know how. Here is an example of an artful performance with live video projections using a Kinect developed by the media and design firm 1024 Architecture.

There have been many technological precedents to the Kinect, but for a much higher price tag. In the dance world this kind of technology was formerly only available to universities and world class dance companies with loads of funding. The prototype of Kinect’s camera and microphone alone cost $30,000! How can Microsoft charge only $150 for the same technology? Well the answer is in the popularity of the device, which has already sold 10 million units and counting.

The fact that this device is called Kinect and was designed to track the motion of the human body seems to be a dream come true for dance artists and movers. I can’t wait to see what artists and geeks will come up with next.

To learn more and see loads of videos about hacks for the Kinect go to: Kinecthacks.net

noOne by Alan Sondheim

Second Life, which self-describes as a “free 3D virtual world where users can socialize, connect and create using free voice and text chat” has become artistic fodder for many artists since its inception in 2003. Not a game, Second Life has no end goal for it’s users: it’s an open-ended consequence-free alternate reality where avatars, free from earthy concerns like nourishment and gravity, can interact with their environment and community in any way they see fit.

The work “noOne” by Alan Sondheim (an official selection of the UMove Festival in the Animation/Gaming category) is an exploration of the lack of rules that exist in the virtual reality of Second Life. The piece is a record of live interactions Sondheim’s avatar had with various uploaded environments. Dance is perhaps a limited genre, as it is typically limited by the capabilities of the human body, but when the human form can fly, bend, and contort into any position the choreographer dreams of, a new set of possibilities opens up for the choreographer. Yet we hardly ever see the avatar in this work, as it is largely obscured by its environment in this piece: the near-human form swallowed by the technological environment, leaving a trail of breadcrumbs in the form of red particles through which the viewer may only hope to keep track of its whereabouts.

Dorsey's Knob by Foofwa d'Imobilité

“Dorsey’s Knob (série Second Live series)” by Foofwa d’Imobilite (official selection of UMove in the Surprise Me! category) takes Second Life as its inspiration, but places the choreography back on live performers. While the avatar inside of Second Life may not be limited by gravity or length of ligaments, the range of movement is stifled, emotion non-existent, and nuance a complete impossibility. By taking the movement language of avatars and repurposing it for performance by a live body, d’Imobilite has created a limited movement palate rife with possibility. While “noOne” relies heavily on the abstract changing environment to create movement within the frame, “Dorsey’s Knob” creates a series of static landscapes in which the robotic movement of one dancer placed next to the near non-movement of another creates a bizarrely human character study.

Perhaps where “Dorsey’s Knob” succeeds is in it’s realization that technologically enhanced worlds are only as interesting as the humans that inhabit them, and humanizing the movement language of avatars (very successfully done through micro-moments showing set-up with the dancers: they are cold, they make each other laugh), creates situations rich with metaphor.

Donna Kuhn, USA, 2009

Animated, pixelated, split-screen, distorted self-portraits – from concrete to more abstracted – morph digitally to the cheerful strains of “don’t touch me tomatoes.”  For more information on what the title means, try the website of this self-professed visual artist, poet, and choreographer.

Dope Zepp, USA, 2009

Sexy animations and psychedelic transitions characterize this Second Life video. Dope dances the night away amidst the cosmos while the pixel angel flits in and out of the frame leading the viewer on an astral journey.