It started as a question from Riksteatern's sign language ensemble CREA:

"Can you help us make an animated character who speaks sign language in real time on stage in our upcoming show about the Ghost of Canterville? It has been done before in England on a fixed theatre stage with lots of technology. But we want a cheap solution that is possible to take on tour. Can you help us?"

The Humanities Lab at Lund University is good at motion capture and took on the task. A few months later, they had developed a solution that could read a sign-language speaking actor backstage, which is shown in real time as a sign-language speaking avatar on stage.

Since then, CREA has refined the solution into a fully-functional stage technology for touring that can be set up in a couple of hours.

CREA's Promotion video for the performance. Subtitles in English and Swedish.
 

In addition to contributing to this project, the Humanities Lab has developed the ability to make really advanced motion capture useful for research in areas such as medicine, humanities, human-robot interaction and zoology.

To spread knowledge about the technology and the Humanities Lab's capabilities, and offer a unique cultural experience, we are handing out tickets to one of the four performances that CREA gives in Lund on the weekend of 7-9 February 2025.

• 7 February at 13.00
• 7 February at 19.00
• 8 February at 18.00
• 9 February at 15.00

Place: Lund City Theatre, Kiliansgatan 13 in Lund

Language: Swedish Sign Language, Translated into Swedish Speech

If you are interested in a free ticket to one of the performances, you can register your interest via a web form in Swedish at ai.lu.se/sv. Please note that the number of tickets we can hand out is limited.

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Contact

The management of free tickets for the performances is organised by AI Lund and the Humanist Lab in Lund.

• Stefan Lindgren, research engineer, Humanities Lab at Lund University
• Jonas Wisbrant, AI Lund and Lund University's profile area natural and artificial cognition
• Maja Petersson, administrative coordinator in the Humanist Lab

 * Motion Capture and refers to techniques that digitise movements so that they can be analysed in, for example, research or, as in this case, reproduced in another way.