MOCAP system marks new and exciting strides in field of motor learning
The Faculty of Music’s recent acquisition of a VICOM MOCAP marks new and exciting strides in the field of motor learning for music and health. Professors Michael Thaut, Aiyun Huang, and Eliot Britton were recently awarded a grant through the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI), funding the purchase of the system for the Centre of Brain, Performance, and Music Creation. The purchase of the MOCAP system places the Faculty of Music in an international leadership position, being one of the only musical institutes in Canada to own such a system dedicated exclusively to music research.
The MOCAP system features an eight-camera system using infrared light to track the movement of markers in space. With real-time display, the system is able to map 5000 data points in only 10 seconds, allowing for extremely rich and efficient data collection and analysis. The system will be used to study the optimization of motor learning in music performance, analyzing the movement of a professional performer to draw comparisons to students for musical training. MOCAP also has implications for music and health, particularly for persons with stroke or Parkinson’s disease, or children with cerebral palsy to regain and develop motor skills. Furthermore, the system presents opportunities for artistic usage, with motion capture mapped to 3D imaging for collaboration with dance, live electronics, or animation.
This acquisition also presents opportunities to further cross-disciplinary collaboration through the Faculty’s Music and Heath Science Research Collaboratory (MaHRC), where the MOCAP system is currently housed. For example, MaHRC Postdoctoral Fellow Tristan Loria (PhD in Kinesiology, 2019) will use data from the system in his research focusing on the use of percussive training for upper-limb rehabilitation in Parkinson’s disease and optimization of motor learning in music performance.
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Article by Kristen Antunes, Master's student in Music Technology & Digital Media
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