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December 06, 2004

Ghost in the Cave

smac-teams.gif

An interactive collaborative game using non-verbal communication

Ghost in the Cave is a collaborative game in which two teams of players use the voice or body gestures for input control. Players not directly involved in controlling the avatars are participating by influencing the music through movements. The task is to navigate in the 3D world and to find three caves. Within each cave the players do an "emotional" task.

The aim was to test the applicability and intelligibility of expressive gesture in a new setting. First, could expressive gesture, e.g. music and dance, be used as a basis for (audience) collaboration and participation? And second, could it be used as an input control / means of communication in an interactive game environment? [Example of movement navigation and music control avi file (4.7M)]

Main Features

Non-verbal communication:
-Both interaction between the computer and between team and players
-Expression in vocal sounds and body movements

Collaboration:
-Team work and audience participation

The game involves participants in an activity using non-verbal emotional expressions. Two teams use expressive gestures in either voice or body movements to compete. Each team has an avatar controlled either by singing into a microphone or by moving in front of a video camera. Players control their avatars by using acoustical or motion cues. The avatar is navigated / moving around in a 3D distributed virtual environment using the Octagon server and player system. The voice input is processed using a musical cue analysis module yielding performance variables such as tempo, sound level and articulation as well as an emotional prediction. Similarly, movements captured from the video camera are analysed in terms of different movement cues.

Ghost in the Cave is a collaboration including four partners within the MEGA project: Speech, Music and Hearing, KTH, Stockholm; Octaga/ Telenor, Oslo; DIST InfoMus Lab, University of Genoa; DEI, University of Padua; and with CID, KTH, Stockholm.

EPS - an interactive collaborative game using non-verbal communication. [PDF]

Posted by jo at December 6, 2004 10:08 AM

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