From: ms38@prism.gatech.edu (Michael J. Sinclair)
Subject: ANNOUNCE: Dance Technology 1997 incorporates VR
Date: 12 Apr 1997 12:48:51 -0400
Message-ID: <5ioedj$r3i@acmex.gatech.edu>
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology


The Interactive Media Technology Center (IMTC) at Georgia Tech is
performing its 4th annual Dance Technology Project, a collaboration
between technology and the arts.  This year's performance is April 10
through the 12th at the Robert Ferst Center. For this performance, we
have teamed up with the Atlanta Ballet to perform David Parson's
"Televisitation", a creative statement about the influence TV has on
our lives.

Some of the technologies exploited in this years piece were real-time
human motion tracking via magnetic sensors (Flock of Birds), real-time
object tracking (IMTC's tracking system), real-time animation
(Protozoa's ALIVE), video keying, and telecommunications
technology. Here is a brief description of two of the pieces in
Televisitation:

During the piece entitled "ball toss", two dancers appear on stage, in
front of an Ultimatte chroma-key green background and proceed to toss
two specially prepared volleyballs back and forth. Processed video is
projected via video theater projector (Hughes/JVC) onto a 30' screen
in the center of the stage. The balls are covered with 3M highly
reflective tape and illuminated with a bright IR source. An IR
tracking camera and computer processes the data on-site and sends it,
via a 155 Mb ATM fiber link, to the GCATT (Georgia Center for Advanced
Telecommunications Technology) building, over a mile away. There, the
video and ball position data are combined, with 3D models, in an SGI
ONYX Infinite Reality computer (much too big to move to the theater),
and the video sent back to the theater, to be projected. The result is
the appearance the two dancers are tossing heavy objects such as a
refrigerator, elephant, VW Bug, plane, house, etc. A live band
accompanies the dancers. Theme - you can't believe all what you see.

In the "cyber girl" piece, a sensor-clad dancer performs on stage
while her virtual re-embodiment is projected on the large screen. Her
3D joint positions are telecommuted in real-time, back to the GCATT
building, and used to animate the virtual cyber girl, changing to
different "costumes" as she dances. The virtual costumes consist of
flowing textures (data flowing through her "wires), fire, chrome with
animated environment mapping, and a nude flying "pixie" (male
engineers and scientists + high powered computer + creative outlet =
nude pixie woman).  During one segment, she becomes a simple
articulated flower that performs beautiful dance. Theme - we can
project extensions of ourselves into cyberspace.

For those interested, I believe on or about April 29th, CNN will show
excerpts on "Science and Technology".

Michael Sinclair
Interactive Media Technology Center
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0130
Internet: ms38@prism.gatech.edu