VR CALLIGRAPHY Transposing Chinese calligraphy as choreographed movements into whole-body performances in VR

Current research in the area of digitizing Chinese calligraphy is primarily concerned with computer graphics (CG), calligraphy ink/brush simulation, human-computer interaction (HCI), and automatic calligraphy generation. In all above research fields, calligraphy is mainly expressed and represented in two dimensions as traditional ink on paper. Even within recent contemporary calligraphic movements, there is little exploration into a true spatialization of calligraphy beyond the flat medium. This research articulates an evolution of Chinese calligraphy, from a physical two-dimensionality into a multidimensional digital form via choreographed whole-body movements using VR (virtual reality) interfaces. We present a series of experiments to test the transposition, creation, and presentation of the essential qualities of calligraphy into a VR format. The aim is, through disseminating new virtual phenomenology in calligraphy, to contribute to and extend the existing writing on the relation between calligraphy and technology as an art entering into immersive environments and interactive virtual spaces. Thus, the research interrogates the dimensionality of calligraphy to synthesize the notion of shufa (书法, the way of writing; the Chinese word for calligraphy) from the perspective of a choreographed performance within VR.