Conserving and promoting Thai sword dancing traditions with Motion Capture and the Nintendo Wii

Thai sword fighting is more than just a martial art; it is a display of the uniqueness of Thai culture. Unlike sword fighting in other countries, Thai sword fighters must undergo ceremonial rituals before each match. Also, competitors must follow a distinct set of rules for each sword type. Before the match, each competitor performs a Thai sword dance to pay his respects to his teachers as well as the goddesses of protection. These ceremonies are considered to be a fundamental aspect of Thai heritage. Throughout history, there were many martial arts schools that taught sword fighting, each with its own inimitable style, as swords were considered to be a lethal weapon during war. However, to prevent the boredom of repeating every posture multiple times, many schools invented a ceremonial sword dance to lend diversity to practice. Thus, the invention of the sword dance birthed a tradition that allowed swords to be both a destructive weapon of war, as well as a ceremonial prop for entertainment. As time passed, swords were no longer used in war, and interest in the art faded away. As a result, many sword fighting schools have disappeared, along with the Thai sword dance. In order to conserve this valuable component of Thai culture, Digitize Thailand, one of NECTEC's Flagships have funded a project that will utilize a technology termed Motion Capture to reproduce the Thai sword dance in 3D. Compared with conventional methods, in which the materials are stored in video recording, the digitized aspects of 3D can give complete information from every viewpoint. Additionally, the digitized information provides convenience for the application of future work. Besides the conservation of precious Thai culture, we are also proposing the stimulation of interest in the disappearing Thai sword dance using the Nintendo Wii. Software with gesture recognition engines have been developed to enable a game-like experience for players learning the dance. We believe that the project will not only preserve our cultural treasures, but also educate future generations about the legacy of the Thai sword.