In a demo, the French company attached 15 sensors to a dancer (pictured) to show how it can gather data, transmit it wirelessly to a PC, and there process the motion signals. An image-based or video-based motion capture system, such as those used in movies, would cost about $50,000, said Sam Guilaume, chief executive at France’s Movea. Movea took the signals from the dancer and turned the movements into a stylized dancing demonstration.
But Movea’s system is available for less than $10,000. Over time, Movea hopes to be able to capture the same data on a person with just five sensors and drive the cost down toward $200.
“It’s becoming very affordable and with that the number of applications is growing,” Guilaume said.
Movea uses off-the-shelf sensors for its applications, but it has invested heavily in data fusion, motion processing firmware, software and intellectual property for consumer electronics applications.
The company has more than 440 patents and licenses its SmartFusion technologies in mobile, interactive TV, and sports markets. In sports, the company does athletic performance analysis. The aim is to enable other companies to quickly add interactivity and motion-awareness to their products.
Orange, the European telecom services firm, recently partnered with Movea to create a motion-sensing set-top box for interactive TV applications.
Each of the sensors knows its own orientation in 3D spaces and the sensors are paired for better accuracy. The result is full-body motion capture.