Zorba the Geek: Cyprus takes the lead in virtual dance arena

The ancient Greeks believed that a man’s grace in dance equaled his prowess in battle, so it is perhaps fitting that the pioneers of a brave new virtual world of dance are embedded in the heart of old Nicosia in Cyprus.

Operating from a stylishly modern, glass-fronted office that sits a stone’s throw from the city’s medieval wall, a team of professors and research scientists have been quietly creating the world’s largest database of 3D dancers.

It wasn’t a conscious decision, more a happy coincidence as they strove to carve out a name for themselves within the increasingly competitive market of immersive technologies, but the goal is now to build the world’s first virtual museum of dance.

Yiorgos Chrysanthou, the hugely enthusiastic research director of the Center on Interactive Media, Smart Systems and Emerging Technologies (CYENS), said: “For many years we have been working on virtual humans and how to animate correctly the body and how to simulate virtual characters that look realistic.

“Many people were doing walking, running, but we thought, ‘What’s the hardest thing you can do?’ Walking is a relatively simple thing, but dancing, there are a lot of variations. Each dance carries a unique narrative, capturing a spectrum of emotions through intricate movements and diversion.

“So we started experimenting with modern dance, which was the hardest dance we could think of. We then started capturing local dances, which involved a lot of research into how to capture someone, but also add a circle of emotion to the animation while still being realistic.

“Currently we have the biggest database of 3D dancers in the world.”

Partly funded by the European Union, CYENS is a research and innovation center of excellence that focuses