Virtual Pottery is an immersive audiovisual installation that uses hand gestures to create 3D pottery objects and compose real-time sound piece. Using the simple and anagogic metaphor, Virtual Pottery attempts to transform body gesture into digital music domain in a compelling way. The body is transformed into this multi-sensory space as a way of sculpting sound pottery. It delivers the same manner when we do in real pottery creation; sculpting clay, polishing the shape, adding glaze materials, and finally going through the firing process. By using the simple hand gestures, the user can experience this virtual creation and sculpt their own pottery pieces, and compose a real-time music. The meditation feeling, but quite experimental music pushes the user to explore the relation between virtual sculpting and spatial sound composition.

There are three projections in the multi-channel audio and projection room, and three pieces of pottery are projected on each screen. Under the Opti track motion capture (Rigid body) system in TransLab, UCSB, The user is able to take a glove with attached trackers, and get closer to one of projections in order to start sculpting its own sound pottery. Each pottery has different color, texture, and frequency domain so that the user can explore how the diverse audiovisual characteristics can be created into compelling sound sculpting. By moving the hand in different direction, the user can change the volume and speed of sound as well. Finally, the multiple pottery pieces controlled by the body can dominate this spatial sound environment. Carrying multiple sensory depths, the aesthetics of emotional impacts in this piece reverberate to audience's senses.

Virtual pottery는 사용자가 3D 도자기 오브젝트를 조각하고 실시간으로 음악을 작곡할 수 있는 인스톨레이션이다. 간단하고 직관적인 손 움직임을 이용하여 Virtual Pottery는 핸드 제스쳐를 디지털 음악 영역으로 전환한다. 인간의 몸은 다중감각공간에서 하나의 소리 도자기를 구워내는 도구로서 사용이 되고, 그 순서는 실제 도자기성형방식과 흡사하다. 흙을 굽고, 모양을 만들어내고, 유약을 바르고, 그리고 마지막으로 불 속에서 구워낸다. Virtual Pottery는 본래 UCSB의 Trans lab에 설치된 모션캡쳐 카메라 시스템 환경에서 구축되어, 트래커가 부착되어 있는 장갑을 착용하고 실행할 수 있다. 총 3개의 도자기와 3개의 음악이 만들어져 실시간으로 시퀀싱과 저장을 할 수 있다. Virtual Pottery는 외부 공간 및 갤러리에서는 Microsoft의 Kinect 카메라를 이용한 버젼으로 전시된다.

Virtual Pottery - Publications

1. Han, Y., Han, B. Virtual pottery: a virtual 3D audiovisual interface using natural hand motions, Multimedia Tools and Applications, Springer, Feb 2013 (DOI: 10.1007/s11042-013-1382-3)
2. Han, Y., Han, B. Virtual Pottery: An Interactive Audio-visual Installation In Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME), Ann Arbor, USA, 2012.