ORGANIC MOTION STAGE SYSTEMS Innovators:Andrew Tschesnok,
Jonathan Rand Motion Equation: 14 cameras + smart software +
instant motion capture = real-time animation and a revolutionary
computer interface We are rough on our computers as we make them
do our bidding-- punching at our keyboards, scrolling cursors,
poking at touchscreens. The Stage system developed by Andrew
Tschesnok sidesteps all that, enabling computers to recognize
human beings and translate our natural movements into digital
information. The system transforms motion capture from a narrow,
though impressive, tool into a versatile computer interface.
Motion capture, pioneered in the 1970s, has been used in
biomechanics research and for computer animation in video games
and movies. (The most famous mo-cap creation is Gollum in the
Lord of the Rings movies.) The new approach dispenses with the
laboriously assembled, marker-studded suits that older systems
use. Fourteen cameras positioned around a studio capture the
movements of anyone who steps i