AI-powered app performs full-body motion capture using just your smartphone no suits, specialized cameras or equipment needed [Video]

New research suggests a smartphone app can replace all the different systems and technologies currently needed to perform motion capture, a process that translates body movements into computer-generated images.

The app, dubbed “MobilePoser,” uses the data obtained from sensors already embedded in various consumer devices — including smartphones, earbuds and smartwatches — and combines this information with artificial intelligence (AI) to track a person’s full body pose and position in space.

Motion capture is often used in the film and video gaming industries to capture actors’ movements and translate them into computer-generated characters that appear on-screen. Arguably the most famous example of this process is Andy Serkis’ performance as Gollum in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. But motion capture normally requires specialized rooms, expensive equipment, bulky cameras and an array of sensors, including “mocap suits.”

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