Finger walking: motion editing with contact-based hand performance

We present a system for generating full-body animations from the performance on a touch-sensitive tabletop of walking, where two fingers are used to pantomime leg movements. A user study was conducted to explore how users can communicate full-body motion using their hands, which concluded that finger walking is a naturally-chosen and comfortable performance method. Based on contact data recorded during this study, the properties of a variety of performed locomotion types were analyzed to determine which motion parameters are most reliable and expressive for the purpose of generating corresponding full-body animations. Based on this analysis, a compact set of motion features was developed for classifying the locomotion type of a finger performance. A prototype interactive animation system was implemented to generate full-body animations of a known locomotion type from finger walking by estimating the motion path of a finger performance, and editing the path of a corresponding animation to match. The classification accuracy and output animation quality of this system was evaluated in a second user study, demonstrating that satisfying full-body animations can be reliably generated from finger performances.