How Move's AI technology aims to be a game-changer for motion capture

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Mention motion capture and the first thing likely to pop up in your head is an actor in a black spandex suit stuck with rubber balls. This norm, however, may soon be a relic of the past as software from technology company Move hopes to revolutionise motion capture for AAA and indies alike, as well as beyond games.

"We've created a platform that allows you to capture authentic, high quality, high fidelity human motion, using just regular video cameras," says Move co-founder and CEO Tino Millar. "We can capture extremely high quality human motion, and make sure that motion can transfer and run on different avatars or 3D models, and then be used inside all sorts of different game engines to power really interesting user content."

The captures have been tested to work on popular game engines like Unreal and Unity, as well as Roblox and proprietary engines. In fact, Move has already partnered with Electronic Arts, which gave a demonstration at annual computer graphics conference SIGGRAPH last year in Vancouver, showcasing remarkable results where the same actor capturing motion using Move's system is able to get the same level of quality and accuracy as when using a more incumbent system.

The difference in costs and practicalities is what Millar hopes makes Move appealing as well.

"Traditionally, to get high quality human motion you need to put people in suits, including animals and kids, and it's pretty uncomfortable," Millar explains. "You have to be in a very controlled environment with the right lighting conditions. If you go to the bathroom, you have to take it off, put it back on, recalibrate everything."

The process of capturing motion