In early 2010, prior to the Xbox Kinect launch, I joined Digital Worlds Institute as a Creative Developer. Our goal was to craft an open-source, marker-less, interactive motion capture software that could conjure sound in real-time seemingly out of thin air. An innovative field of stage technology. Check out the video for a glimpse of our experiments.
Leading the charge of this break-through technology, was Creative Director Arturo Sinclair, and Research Assistant Anton Yudin, who spearheaded the development of the markerless motion capture system known as the Organic Motion Stage.
Natasha Tsakos and Anton Yudin at Digital Worlds Institute
Our initial milestones included showcasing the project at the eComm Conference in San Francisco and SIGGRAPH 2010, where we offered a sneak peek into the future of interactive technology.
Arturo Sinclair, Anton Yudin and Natasha Tsakos at Digital Worlds Institute developing an open-source marker-less, interactive motion capture system
About Arturo Sinclair:
Arturo Sinclair has been professionally involved in art and technology since 1965 in fields such as film, special effects cinematography, computer games, theater, puppetry and computer graphics. He holds an MFA in New Media.
He has been involved in the game industry since 1988 as a designer and art director for companies such as Electronic Arts, Brøderbund, Sierra Online and Stormfront Studios. His background in special effects cinematography was instrumental in bringing green screen, stop motion, motion control and motion capture into the game world. In the early 90's he utilized the services of a then unknown company called BioVision to capture the motions of the Oakland Athletics to animate the players in Tony LaRussa's Baseball II, a first in the game industry where MoCap is now a standard practice.
In NY Arturo Sinclair became Creative Director for the broadband division of R/ GA and Associates, an Academy Award leading-edge motion graphics and live-action film and video production. He was also Vice-President of Creative at Agency.com a world renown interactive services company.
Currently a media professor at Ithaca College in NY, he was an Artist in Residence at Digital Worlds Institute and Special Effects Supervisor for SZM, the premier broadcast studio in Munich, Germany, where he was in charge of visual effects production for weekly television series and feature films. Sinclair designed the virtual reality environment for Paramount’s production “Virtuosity”, starring Denzel Washington and Rusell Crowe. This was the first ever major feature film whose special effects were designed and produced entirely on a PC platform.
Arturo Sinclair at Digital Worlds Institute with Anton Yudin and Natasha Tsakos
About Digital Worlds Institute:
University of Florida's Digital Worlds Institute is on the cutting edge of digital arts and sciences — both in research initiatives and innovative approach to education — and a recognized leader in combining digital arts, storytelling, computer science, and interactive technologies.