Researchers develop a new way to instruct dance in virtual reality

Researchers at Aalto University were looking for better ways to instruct dance choreography in virtual reality. The new WAVE technique they developed will be presented in May at the CHI conference for human-computer interaction research.

Previous techniques have largely relied on pre-rehearsal and simplification.

"In virtual reality, it is difficult to visualize and communicate how a dancer should move. The human body is so multi-dimensional, and it is difficult to take in rich data in real-time," says Professor Perttu Hämäläinen.

The researchers started by experimenting with visualization techniques familiar from previous dance games. But after several prototypes and stages, they decided to try out the audience wave, familiar from sporting events, to guide the dance.

"The wave-like movement of the model dancers allows you to see in advance what ...