Computer BUNRAKU System.

Abstract

BUNRAKUis a Japanese traditional puppet show.In this paper we introduce a virtual reality techniques to BUNRAKU so that people can enjoy it interactively.The proposed system allows us to play BUNRAKU together with virtual reality in real time through a telephone line by preparing the same stages at distant locations.If a human puppeteer controls the puppet at the one place, the sensors detect the puppet's movement, and these data are sent to the other place, where the puppet's action is reproduced in real time by the robot according to the received data.A shamisen (accompaniment instrument for BUNRAKU) is also available in this system to control the puppets, by using the sound analyzer as system input device.Since the system's output is actually moving an object (the robot), it looks much more realistic than a CRT image display.