A new aproach to cosplay events using the Kinect Technology

I have been working with kinect since the launch of the first SDK a few years ago, finding new ways to do things that could make use of the benefits of this technology.

You can find a lot of ways to employ it in fields that you can’t even imagine why they are not already using it. One of this uses is for Cosplays, According to internet, Cosplay (コスプレ kosupure?), is a portmanteau of costume play, is a performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character or idea that is usually identified with a unique name. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture centered on role play. A broader use of the term “cosplay” applies to any costumed role-play in venues apart from the stage, regardless of the cultural context. Favorite sources include manga and anime, comic books and cartoons, video games, and live-action films.

So, as it says above, Cosplayers wants to represent their favorite character as if they were them. Is not just dressing like them, is actually being them, expressing like them. Well, why not give them the opportunity to be inside their game, cartoon or film?. And not only the chance to be there but also their powers, what about flying? what about throwing hadokens, or being Mario fighting Goombas and Koopas, etc. Of course, you can do all of this with video post-production and green screen color keying. But this doesn’t give the feeling of being there, in realtime, acting or performing whatever you want of yours favorite character. All of this could be made with Kinect, without any needs for advanced studio or green screen walls; just the kinect, your computer and a good light.
This is what this project is about, an experiment of how this sensor could help as a support tool for Cosplay performers, or just any one who would like to be in the shoes of any super hero, anime character or film actor. Using the functionality of background removal, the program puts the cosplayer in the corresponding stage, with the aid for skeletal tracking, the cosplayer could easily wear any weapon or custome that could serve its purpose, and fight with their nemesis virtually.