Motion-Capture Wear
Technik Museum Berlin 2022Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim 2022 (to learn more about our ongoing research in this area, please contact us.)
Supported by C.Hafner, Comissioned by Technik Museum Berlin for the Designer in Residence Program 2021/22
Motion Capture is understood as a tracking method for the detection and recording of movements, allowing computers to reproduce, analyse, further process and control them in a series of applications and softwares.
The metal accessories and motion-capture garments we currently develop mediate between function and feel. Within producing this work, we observed a change in attitude and behaviour in how our users interacted and reacted to the pieces: their movements became soft and performative, reimagining the device for a female gaze. If we were to reinvent what has been defined as Wearables today and position these devices in the context of jewels and artefacts, how would our relationship and understanding of technolgy, gaming, avatars and the digital change?
There is a fascinating distinction between the idea of the device and the idea of an accessory. At the same time the term artefact comes to mind, and as soon as function is embedded one generally speaks of a product. Whilst each of these words holds different qualities, informations and use-cases, their appearance on the body turns them into a subject-object as they start to relate and interact. A lot of our work exists on a spectrum between definitions and with this motion-capture wear we combine technicality in function and process of making with relational aesthetics, historic references and wearability.
Using metal techniques from the 1920s, custom motion capture accessories are fashioned out of brass and filigreed as elegant jewellery. The product development pushes the boundaries of technical motion capture wear.
Moving beyond the current model of functionality, these pieces augment the audience’s understanding of the rotations and position of feet and hands and gives them a sense of touch and feel of exploration. Married with the garments, these enhance the unique journey of our visitors.
Next to these elaborate and wearable mo-cap accessories, we produced performer specific mo-cap suits to generate live motion-captured avatar doubles audiences can interact with in a virtual environment.
