Cheap 3D Motion Sensing System Developed At MIT

Al writes "Researchers at the MIT Media Lab have created a cheaper way to track physical motion that could prove useful for movie special effects. Normally an actor needs to wear special markers that reflect light with numerous high-speed cameras placed around a specially-lit set. The new system, called Second Skin, instead relies on tiny photosensors embedded in clothes that record movement by picking patterns of infrared light emitted by inexpensive projectors that can be mounted in ceilings or even outdoors. The whole system costs less than $1,000 to build, and the researchers have developed a version that vibrates to guide a person's arm movements. Watch a video of Second Skin in action."

Re:Tracking fidelity

[Anonymous Coward]

The video on the SecondSkin web site says it captures 5000 frames per second. I think the slowness you perceived in the feedback video was due to the feedback software, not the capture system.

Re:The problem is...

[mshannon78660]

Actually, if you RTFA, you'll see that they already address this. One of the difficulties with current systems is that you have to go to the system to do the motion capture. This new system could potentially be used on set - which would be very attractive in situations where live-action and CG are mixed.