With the royalty of mocap on display, you know this isn't your average exhibition. Target3D co-founder Ashley Keeler returns from LA with his highlights from SIGGRAPH 2019, the conference and exhibition for new technology, gaming, animation, research, design and production.
Improved mocap software was debuted by our friends at OptiTrack, with their new Motive 3.0 software release. I watched the new skeletal solver being demonstrated at OptiTrack’s booth - it can accurately track and reflect human movements in real time with less than 10 ms of latency. The new solver will be compatible with current OptiTrack systems, which many of our clients already have, to enable live-action or virtual camera tracking and VR production. Also from OptiTrack was their hybrid glove technology that they’ve launched in partnership with ManusVR due for release with Motive 3.0Over in the French Pavilion, DynamiXyz showcased their latest showreel announcing work on RDR2, Love, Death and Robots and teasing bigger shows to be announced soon (watch this space). They also revealed their new stereo cam HMC with an incredibly robust new wireless transmission system.
Mocap was absolutely the order of the week with other demos from Xsens, Rokoko, Motion Analysis, Vicon and Qualysis. For me, the most exciting startup demo award goes to Wrnch, who pointed a standard webcam at the stream of people walking between their booths. They claim they could track the movements and gestures of more than 30 people at once, all powered by a small box sitting on the ground nearby. Each person’s pose and some simple gestures, like thumbs up, can be recognized by the system. I’m keen to find out more.
Five years after the release of Perception Neuron, which is really popular with our clients, Noitom were at SIGGRAPH with a live demo of their soon to be released Perception Neuron Studio, a full body, inertial optical hybrid solution. I expect this to be a hit with our expanding biomechanics market in the UK, as well as for live performance tracking and it has the ability to be built around the user with add ons such as the hybrid trackers and full finger capture gloves.
In the mocap world product development sometimes feels like it moves at lightning speed. SIGGRAPH 2019 pulled all of that together in one immense week and already I’m wondering what might appear in Washington DC in 2020. Until then…Inspired by these new products and software? Get in touch with Ashley and find out how they can enhance your next mocap project.