[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/7370\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E3D dance recordings could help resurrect extinct Greek dances\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGreece has thousands of different dances, and each region has its own styles. We dance a lot at summer festivals, weddings and baptisms. Traditional dances are very popular among the young (as well as the old).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt important ceremonies like weddings, people want to express their feelings using traditional Greek dances rather than the dances of another country. I love their rhythm, and the melody and lyrics of the songs which accompany them. Especially the lyrics, which use the power of the Greek language to convey a lot using very few words.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut some dances in remote regions of the country, like Macedonia and Thessaly, are under threat.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMost of us focus on tangible cultural heritage \u2013 marvellous buildings, bridges, churches \u2013 but we lose the ceremonies. Ceremonies are also part of our human civilisations and declare what people think, how people behave.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccording to UNESCO, the intangible part of cultural heritage \u2013 dance, oral tradition, cuisine, religious ceremony \u2013 is a very big part of our civilisation, of our culture. For me personally it is the most important part.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECulture for me is what we as humans do \u2013 not the buildings themselves, but why we build buildings in a particular style, why we wear these clothes, why we dance like this.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEndangered\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/691218\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003ETerpsichore \u003C\/a\u003Eproject is named after an ancient (Greek) goddess of dance.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe are capturing endangered Greek dances including Enteka and Trehatos, which are losing popularity because their styles are going out of fashion and they are danced in remote regions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe are also capturing popular ones like Kalamatianos which is danced in the Peloponnese region at almost all festivals. People used to dance them in regional costumes, but now they simply wear modern clothes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe record these dances using professional dancers from the department of sports sciences in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe do not use conventional audiovisual cameras. We create 3D digital recordings using depth sensors which are more accurate because the dancers\u2019 movements can be measured.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EConventional video is two dimensional, it does not give depth. Humans can recognise depth in a video but we cannot use the video to measure (the length of steps and other movements).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe information you get from depth is very important to teach people to dance correctly.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt is also important for (cultural heritage researchers) to be able to compare dances between different countries and regions \u2013 to say this dance is related to that dance, to understand the origins of a dance. (This technology means) they can prove the origin \u2013 not from written texts or what experts know subjectively \u2013 but by objectively measuring the 3D geometric distances of the dance.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018It will be very important for future generations - both cultural heritage experts, and people who want to resurrect these dances again.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EProfessor Anastasios Doulamis, National Technical University of Athens, Greece\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECreating 3D digital recordings is becoming easier (and cheaper).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe use two kinds of recording technology: one involves putting marks on a dancer and using specialist Vicon motion capture equipment usually used by professionals (such as sports coaches and physiotherapists). Our recordings were mostly at the University of Thessaloniki.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut we are also showing that you can capture dances using low-cost devices. We hope this means many people can capture dances in 3D, so more dances will be preserved in this format.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESensors\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe use Microsoft\u2019s Kinect depth sensors, which are less accurate but very cheap \u2013 they cost about \u20ac100 each. They are used in Xbox gaming consoles to enable people to play tennis hands free, for example.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe use three of these sensors \u2013 one in front of the dancer and one on either side \u2013 but it can work with just one.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECapturing the geometry of the movements is very tough technologically. There is a lot of movement \u2013 it\u2019s not like a building where the geometry is static. If you have multiple dancers you have a lot of occlusions, the geometry is confused and it is difficult for the computer to understand which dancer is which.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESo we have performed experiments using one or two dancers up to now. There are some traditional dances with one dancer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe are uploading as many of these dances as we can onto a \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/terpsichore-project.eu\/terpsichore-dance-database\/\u0022\u003Edigital library\u003C\/a\u003E. We want to (\u2026) make it accessible to dance teachers and students, cultural experts, and the wider public. This will take a lot of time and additional financial resources.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe think the system will become the main way of recording dances because of the 3D information (it contains). It will be very important for future generations - both cultural heritage experts, and people who want to resurrect these dances again.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI hope 3D motion capturing research will continue and this framework can be used as a milestone for protecting our intangible heritage.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAs told to Alex Whiting.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe research in this article was funded by the EU. 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