Character Generation and Validation on Robotic Platforms

Can we use Laban Movement Analysis to extract key movement characteristics from ballet character archetypes to create recognizable character motion across different robotic platforms?

Key takeaways: We can create character movement sequences based on extracted movement characteristics that are recognizable on both humanoid and non-humanoid robotic platforms, and recognizable both to lay viewers and movement experts.

Research Process

Observe how ballet dancers use movement to portray characters
- Make observations with Laban Movement Analysis (LMA)
Pull out unique characteristics for different character types
Use LMA characteristics to create character movement on NAO and Bebop drone
Run user study to validate results

Dying Character in Ballet

Dying Character on NAO

Dying Character on Bebop

Publications:

Bacula, Alexandra, Amy LaViers. "Character Synthesis of Ballet Archetypes on Robots Using Laban Movement Analysis: Comparison Between a Humanoid and an Aerial Robot Platform with Lay and Expert Observation." International Journal of Social Robotics (2020): 1-16. Link to paper
Bacula, Alexandra, Amy LaViers, “Character Design and Validation on Aerial Robotic Platforms Using Laban Movement Analysis,” Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Social Robotics, Qingdao, China, 2018. Link to paper
Bacula, Alexandra, Amy LaViers, “Character Recognition on a Humanoid Robotic Platform via a Laban Movement Analysis,” Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Movement and Computing, Genoa, Italy, June, 2018. Link to paper

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