We are pleased to announce the start of a new project to develop a Motion in Place Platform enabling the study of relationships between human movement and site.
Over the course of the next year, the team will develop two tracking systems to capture different forms of motion data: high resolution full-body data obtained from 2 people in a fixed area over limited periods of time (e.g., the sequence of movements needed to bring water from a well to a hearth or the movements needed to cross a crowded intersection); and positional data gathered from many people moving over large areas and over extended time scales (e.g., the movements of a team of archaeologists over an entire 6 week dig, or the movement of visitors around a city park). Researchers will work together with Brighton-based motion capture company, “Animazoo” to adapt their studio-based motion capture systems for use in the field while simultaneously developing capture software for the Apple iPhone to provide a readily available system for capturing data from large groups.
Up to now, the main research tools available for this type of work have been cameras and GPS loggers. Some researchers have gone a step further and build 3-D models or create virtual fly-throughs allowing people to look at buildings and sites from different viewpoints, but many concede that, the truly human aspect, the behaviour and experience of place, is lost. In order to get a truly embodied understanding of what they intend to build, to study, to appreciate the scale and orientation of a space, or the relationships of the people within it, researchers of all disciplines must walk the site.