This AI tech has me rethinking the future of motion tracking

In November 2023, I wrote about why I think AI motion-capture app, Move AI, was worth the wait. Just eight months later, the same company is taking its offline markerless motion capture technology and making it real-time.

It's called Move Live and it enables the creation of real-time 3D digital experiences in virtual production, sports, gaming, retail and event activations, broadcast TV, and more.

It's already creating quite the buzz and has been utilised by OMM to create Nike store activations in London, Paris, and Berlin for UEFA Euro 2024. Move Live proved to be a great solution thanks to the lack of any noticeable latency and hyper-responsive motion tracking.

“The team at Move were dynamic and the system flawless. We can’t wait to experiment further with this framework and see just how far we can push the envelope,” says Nik Arnhold, Director of Creative Digital Services at OMM.

Move AI's list of notable partners also includes Improbable, who are using it for live performances in the metaverse and XiteLabs who harnessed it to create real-time previsualisation and motion capture of Grimes for her XR performance at Coachella.

How does Move Live work?

The Move Live markerless motion capture solution generates 3D motion data from video in real-time and with post-processing using advanced AI, computer vision, and physics models.

This removes the need for restrictive and costly mocap suits and generally makes the whole setup more straight-forward. Motion capture data is captured by extracting natural human motion from video using advanced AI, computer vision, biomechanics, and physics to automatically retarget the data to a character rig and create a virtual character that can mirror human motion in real-time.

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“People are engaging in 3D digital experiences more than ever before, but current 3D workflows are notoriously time-consuming, difficult, and expensive” says Brian Bosche, VP of Marketing and Revenue at Move AI. “Move Live enables studios and brands to create more engaging digital experiences and accelerate the 3D animation process.”

Mocap AI something many studios in the VFX and game development industries are looking into, with Lux Aeterna having explored its uses in its research into AI uses in the VFX industry. And we've seen how game developer Ninja Theory explored new mocap and MetaHuman animation for its Xbox game Senua's Saga: Hellblade II.

The The core features of Move Live include:

• Real-time markerless motion capture
• On-prem and hardware agnostic
• Capture people in a 10x10m volume space with 4-8 cameras
• Less than 100ms latency
• Solo operation and “walk-on, walk-off” for subjects being captured
• 1 hour setup and 1 minute calibration time
• Unreal Engine 5 Plug-In
• Post-processing with the Move Engine for AAA quality motion data

Move Live adds to Move’s existing product line, which includes Move One, a single-camera motion capture iOS app, and Move Pro, a web-based multi-camera motion capture system.

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Paul is a digital expert. In the 20 years since he graduated with a first-class honours degree in Computer Science, Paul has been actively involved in a variety of different tech and creative industries that make him the go-to guy for reviews, opinion pieces, and featured articles. With a particular love of all things visual, including photography, videography, and 3D visualisation Paul is never far from a camera or other piece of tech that gets his creative juices going. You'll also find his writing in other places, including Creative Bloq, Digital Camera World, and 3D World Magazine.