Advancing Research Sharing Through DataCite's Global Access Fund: Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology, Indonesia

As part of a funded project supported by the DataCite Global Access Fund (GAF), the Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) has advanced an innovative research initiative to preserve cultural heritage through motion capture (mocap) technology and persistent identifiers (PIDs) Aligned with DataCite's vision to make research more discoverable, accessible, and reusable, the initiative leverages mocap technology to preserve digitally and globally share traditional Indonesian dance heritage through the use of PIDs. The goal has been to create an inclusive digital repository where traditional dance forms from around the world can be recorded, shared, and celebrated. 

Indonesia, a nation of immense cultural diversity—comprising over 17,000 islands and more than 1,340 ethnic groups—is home to a vast array of traditional dances at increasing risk of being lost due to globalization and rapid technological transformation. Traditional preservation methods, such as video recordings or written documentation, often fall short of capturing the full three-dimensional and biomechanical complexity of these dance forms. Mocap technology provides a powerful alternative that is capable of recording intricate movements with high fidelity and precision. 

In its initial phase, the ITS research team successfully captured motion data for 12 traditional Indonesian dances using a 32-marker optical mocap system with a sampling rate of 120 Hz, achieving sub-millimeter accuracy. This data forms the foundation of an open, inclusive digital repository envisioned to expand globally—allowing cultural heritage institutions, researchers, and communities worldwide to archive, share, and celebrate traditional dance through cutting-edge digital means.

Building on this foundation, the project aims to expand beyond Indonesia, inviting cultural communities from around the world to contribute their unique dance forms. This expansion ensures that the repository becomes a global resource, fostering cross-cultural collaboration and enabling creative applications in animation, gaming, and virtual reality.

Project Objectives and Milestones

The project's primary goal is to build a comprehensive, accessible mocap data repository focused on traditional dance movements. Designed for researchers, artists, educators, and cultural institutions, the repository uses DataCite infrastructure to ensure discoverability and proper data citation.

In its first year, the project focused on collecting and curating mocap data for 12 Indonesian traditional dances, in collaboration with local dance experts. The repository platform contains enriched metadata, including a DOI for each dataset, and advanced search functions, making the content easily and persistently accessible. Engagement with stakeholders—such as cultural institutions and dance academies—has been vital in shaping the repository's functionality.

One key milestone in our process was connecting our repository to DataCite Fabrica and initiating tests for DOI registration. The integration with Fabrica went smoothly, allowing us to focus on enriching our metadata. We ensured the inclusion of key persistent identifiers such as ROR IDs for institutional affiliations, ORCID iDs for project personnel, and even linked our 2024 Award DOI (see screenshot below). Following successful testing, we transitioned to the production stage, where we are now able to register Findable DOIs that are globally discoverable through both the Global Handle System and DataCite Commons. Check out an example of our datasets here.

PIDs and open metadata play a vital role in ensuring the long-term accessibility and traceability of our repository content. This is particularly valuable in the context of preserving our heritage and cultural resources, where sustained visibility and integrity over time are essential for future research, education, and public engagement.

Although the initial focus is Indonesian dance, the platform is scalable and is expanding to cover dance data from Southeast Asian, with future plans for global collaboration. Through this, the project contributes not only to cultural preservation but also to global cross-cultural understanding.

The project has fostered interdisciplinary collaborations by bringing together academic and technological experts from diverse fields, as well as artists, choreographers, and cultural practitioners. This collaborative approach has promoted knowledge exchange and innovation (especially in Indonesia), and has ensured the authenticity of the recorded movements and enriched the repository with contextual knowledge and creative insights, all while advancing the application of mocap technology in cultural preservation. Partnerships with local vocational schools and universities have, furthermore, helped integrate mocap technology into curricula, equipping students with skills that span cultural preservation, digital storytelling, and technical expertise. These efforts establish a strong foundation for future interdisciplinary research and educational programs, advancing the fields of animation, virtual reality, and beyond.

Overcoming Challenges

We encountered technological, skills, and data validation challenges during the first year of the project: 

• High infrastructure costs and the need for specialized hardware limited initial project scalability. To address this, a cloud-based solution was implemented, reducing costs by 65%.

• Many cultural practitioners lacked the technical expertise required for mocap operations. This was mitigated through an intensive 120-hour training program, resulting in an 85% proficiency rate among participants. The training program was designed in collaboration with vocational schools and industry experts to ensure relevance and effectiveness. 
• Ensuring cultural authenticity required extensive review by expert panels, which extended the project timeline by 15%. Engaging with cultural experts and practitioners was essential to accurately capture the nuances of traditional dances, ensuring the integrity of the digital representations.

A future challenge is the need for collaboration with many mocap content providers to ensure the dataset's sustainability and make available data that preserves traditional Indonesian culture. Collaboration among institutions, animation developers, universities or vocational schools, and creative stakeholders at the government level is also needed to close skills gaps.

Reflections and Future Directions

Thanks to the DataCite GAF, the project has contributed to raising cultural awareness by bridging traditional arts and modern technology, actively bringing together experts in traditional dance and mocap technology to foster a deeper understanding of cultural expressions and encourage dialogue. This process has not only ensured the authenticity and accuracy of the motion data but also advanced the application of mocap technology for cultural documentation. The collaboration encourages further research and development in using PIDs to preserve and reinterpret cultural heritage, making it more accessible and relevant in the modern world.

So far, the project has documented 12 traditional Indonesian dances using high-fidelity mocap data, preserving a vital part of Indonesia's cultural heritage. The initiative will expand globally, collaborating with cultural institutions, academics, and local communities to collect traditional dance data from Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. The goal is to create an inclusive, cross-cultural motion repository that supports global cultural preservation. This expansion will foster international research, education, and creative innovation in animation, gaming, and virtual reality.

For more information about the project and its outcomes, please visit: https://riset.its.ac.id/datacits