Here's the latest innovation from Anton Bogdanovych (shaqq Korobase in SL), the University of Western Sydney researcher developing software that connects a motion capture suit to a Second Life avatar: MoCap Basketball!
That's right: Pantomime basketball jump shots in the real world, and see the results in the virtual world. Watch:
But is the motion capture input precise enough to calculate the physics of the Second Life basketball? I was a bit skeptical, but Anton insists that's the case: "[I]t is as precise as it can possibly be," he tells me. "I can’t think of any type of move it would not be able to register. And it’s extremely fast. There is simply no need for any better precision as in SL you wouldn’t notice it."
But how does he translate the body language of the shot into the physics of the virtual ball? Details after the break:
"I don’t calculate the trajectory," explains Anton. "To make a proper shot, I use the acceleration of the hand, its direction vector, and then in the Linden Script Language script of the ball, I simply apply acceleration in the given direction. The rest of the physics is calculated by Second Life (including the trajectory, bouncing, etc.)" As he suggests in the video, it may be possible for people to play a game of pickup hoops together in SL, from different parts of the world. (Provided they all have mocap suits, of course.) So the main hurdle, he suggests, is getting mocap suits that are affordable to most consumers. (Anton's own suit costs many thousands of dollars.)
If you watch the video closely, you'll notice he doesn't seem to score a single shot, but Anton says that's just a display issue: "It doesn’t appear there as the ball is going through, because the way I count if the ball is in –- I just have an invisible sphere inside the basket that waits for ball collisions. One of the problems with SL is that I can’t make this sphere a phantom, as in this case it will not receive any collisions. So the ball goes through and then collides with this sphere and jumps out."
That, and making a fancy-ass shot is hard in all realities: "[I]t’s just more difficult to score with a turn-around jump (especially when you don’t see the basket.) After some practice I was scoring fine."
"So the main hurdle, he suggests, is getting mocap suits that are affordable to most consumers"
And I cannot wait for that day.
Posted by: Adeon Writer | Thursday, September 16, 2010 at 01:03 PM
Yeah then SL sex wil be even better than the real thing almost. I can have sex with say pamela or angelnia Mm. yes! Bring it on screw playing with basketballs this will make money.
Posted by: brandon | Thursday, September 16, 2010 at 05:49 PM
It's very useful innovation. We definitely need more mocap capabilities in virtual worlds. I think I have ADD though. Can't watch a video more than 5 minutes long anymore...no matter how fascinating :(
Posted by: Chenin Anabuki | Thursday, September 16, 2010 at 08:08 PM
You guys should check out: http://www.mocapsuit.com
Affordable Motion Capture.
They are also offering free development kits to select programmers and developers.
Posted by: Motion Controller | Thursday, September 16, 2010 at 08:38 PM