The V Motion Project is a striking multimedia project that combines the talents of musicians, dancers, programmers, designers and animators to create a ‘visual instrument’ that uses the Microsoft Kinect to capture movement and translate it into music and visuals.

Here’s what the developers have to say about the V Motion Project and the video above:

We created and designed the live visual spectacle with a music video being produced from the results. We wanted it to be clear that the technology was real and actually being played live. The interface plays a key role in illustrating the idea of the instrument and we designed it to highlight the audio being controlled by the dancer. Design elements like real time tracking and samples being drawn on as they are played all add to authenticity of the performance.

The visuals are all created live and the music video is essentially a real document of the night.

Here’s another video that demos some of the Kinect-based instruments used:

The music system works by connecting the Kinect camera to Ableton Live, effectively mapping body movements to Ableton?s controls. For example, when you touch your head with your left hand a certain loop could start. Or you could control the dry/wet filter with the distance between your hands.

Based on the video, the V Motion Project is fighting against the latency and resolution limitations of the Kinect. But the developers and performers have succeeded in using the device to create a performance that’s both visually and musically interesting.

For details on the tech, see the Custom Logic site.

via dv