Software performance

Researchers at the University of Dundee are aiming to create a new gesture-tracking interface for artists and performers.

The G-Vision project is a collaboration between Nigel Johnson, Reader in Interactive Media in the School of Television and Imaging, and Dr. Stephen McKenna, of the Division of Applied Computing.

It has been supported by a £40,000 Digital Media Commercialisation Award, funded jointly by Scottish Enterprise (SE) Tayside and the University’s own Department of Research and Innovation Services.

The one-year project aims to create a prototype software `plug-in’ which could be used to track anything from a simple hand gesture to the movements of groups of people. The software could then process these movements and respond intelligently in whichever way the artist wants it to.

For instance, specific hand gestures from either an artist working within a real-time installation or giving a performance could trigger many different actions and reactions, tailored to the artist’s requirements, without having to physically handle any equipment.