Solos Maranhenses — Motion Capture and Augmented Performances
LabTecDrama — Laboratory of Dramatic Technologies
Highlights
- Motion capture of Maranhão cultural heritage dances
- AR authoring tool requiring no programming or physical markers
- Presented at JIT 2022 — Journées d'Informatique Théâtrale, Lyon
- Co-developed with LabTecDrama
Solos Maranhenses is a research-creation project at the intersection of cultural computing and performing arts, developed in collaboration with LabTecDrama (Laboratory of Dramatic Technologies) at UFMA.
The project pursued two intertwined objectives: preserving the kinetic vocabulary of traditional Maranhão dances through motion capture digitization, and creating new expressive possibilities for stage performance through augmented reality.
Motion Capture Component: Dancers performing traditional styles — including the Bumba-meu-boi — were recorded using a markerless motion capture system. The resulting motion data creates a digital archive of choreographic knowledge that would otherwise exist only in embodied memory.
Augmented Performance Component: The AR system allows theater and dance directors to script virtual props, costumes, and visual effects that appear overlaid on performers’ bodies when viewed through a tablet or projected onto stage via a camera feed. Crucially, the authoring tool was designed for non-programmers: directors map virtual elements to body regions through a direct-manipulation interface, without writing any code or attaching physical markers to performers.
The system was demonstrated and published at JIT 2022 (Journées d’Informatique Théâtrale), hosted jointly by ENSATT Lyon and the Laboratoire Passages XX-XXI of Université Lyon 2.
Watch the performance: https://youtu.be/pDTYMd0x-JQ