Ghost in the Virtual Reality: Translating the Human Essence with Motion Captured Dance

In the world of dance and its related disciplines, the ability of a performer to successfully ߢmoveߣ audience members enough to elicit an emotional reaction is vital. Certain factorssuch as the proximity of audience to performer and viewing a performance in real-timeaffect how this effect is achieved. When dance movement is digitised through movingimage or animation, there is potential for loss in translation of the emotional feelingexperienced during a live performance versus recorded live performance or animatedperformance. Conversely, a heightened sensation might occur through the use of cinematography,editing and special effects. This translation issue may be encountered when creatinga virtual reality animation dance using motion capture since the technologies involvedcan both interfere or enhance the presentation of movement. Assuming that human essenceneeds to be captured along with physical motion in order to generate an emotionalreaction, then the choreography and motion capture data become the ߢghostߣ that istransplanted from human into a new digital body. This separation then raises the questionof how to maintain the subtleties required for communication that lead to generatingempathy in viewers for a virtual performerߣs narrative. To address these issues, Iengaged in a series of dance motion capture sessions for a virtual narrative aboutmental health as the basis for examining how a choreographer and motion capture dancercan work with the limitations of technology, rather than be limited, to produce usefuldata. Specific limitations included use of contemporary and somatic dance, a relativelylow number of cameras and dots, no facial or hand data and the use of abstract humanoidfigures. Although a universally applicable solution was not discovered, I was ableto identify a set of strategies that would be useful to contemporary dance choreographersusing motion capture technology for the first time. Furthermore, the strategies areintended for movement narratives rooted in portraying emotion rather than physicalspectacle dependent on virtuosity and visual effects.