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Movement analysis through observation is a highly complex and time consuming process that applies to a variety of fields including dance, cultural and anthropological studies, rehabilitation, as well as digital analysis and preservation of movement-based traditions. The evaluation of the experience confirms its potential to transform the annotation of dance movement segments into an engaging and enjoyable experience as well as to foster a deeper understanding of movement annotation both as a concept and process.
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This work proposes a first step into introducing movement annotation to non-expert users, and as such, its main goal is to explore the implications and potential of such an approach. In this paper we present Motion Hollow, a story-driven playful experience that uses metaphors based on Laban Movement Analysis, an established framework for movement analysis and annotation, to familiarize novice users with the process of qualitative characterization of dance moves. The lack of intuitive, easy-to-learn-and-use frameworks is considered to be one of the biggest challenges in this process another is the lack of approaches able to motivate a wide audience of users, from the broader public to dance experts, researchers and performers, to contribute with annotations. The annotation of animated motion-captured segments is a challenging, interdisciplinary task, especially when it comes to characterizing movement qualitatively.
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