Visual Tracking of Movements for a Gesture-Based Interface

📄 Project Abstract

This project aimed to create a prototype gesture-based interface for the control of audio, and to explore the capabilities of the Vicon 8 motion capture system. The Vicon 8 motion capture system accurately tracks the three-dimensional co-ordinates of small markers, and outputs this data in real-time. The finished system interprets the real time Vicon data to give responsive gesture based control over musical events and continuous controllers. It also provides visualisation of the movement data to give feedback relevant to the mapping strategies used. The final prototype was named UMI, short for Unconstrained Musical Interface. The background research gives an overview of gesture tracking technologies and gesture recognition techniques, as well as a summary of current issues in m2usical interface design. The system is evaluated for latency and usability factors. Finally, the lessons learnt from the project and suggested directions for further research are discussed.