Imagine the horror of feeling bugs crawling on you while you’re watching a film or playing a video game. Or the sensation of falling off a cliff.
Disney Research, Pittsburgh (DRP) is developing two new entertainment technologies that are generating a buzz this week at SIGGRAPH 2011, the International Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques in Vancouver.
The first is a new way to record motion capture on film; the second enables viewers to physically feel a variety of sensations while they are watching movies or playing interactive games.
Surround Haptics has been a work in progress at CMU for years. While the sensations are transmitted through a gaming chair, in the future it may be easily embedded into clothing, gloves, sports equipment and mobile computing devices.
“This technology has the capability of enhancing the perception of flying or falling, of shrinking or growing, of feeling bugs creeping on your skin. The possibilities are endless,” says Ivan Poupyrev, senior research scientist, the inventor and developer along with Ali Israr, also of DRP.
The motion capture technology, structure from motion (SfM), involves several wearable cameras worn by the actual actors to reconstruct relative and global motions. DRP mounts almost two dozen outward-facing cameras on the actors and can be used anywhere, freeing up the artistic process since it can be used in natural environments. The process was first developed 20 years ago by CMU professor Takeo Kanade.
Movies that have used it include “Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Man Walking” where Davy Jones sported a beard with dripping, animated tentacles. The problem is current motion capture techniques are expensive and can only be accomplished in a studio.
“We can see the day when more people will be able to use it as cameras continue to get smaller and cheaper,” says Yaser Sheikh of DRP.
Watch it in action.
Source: Ivan Poupyrev, Yaser Sheikh, DRP and CMU
Writer: Deb Smit
Image courtesy of DRP: Here, cameras attached to a runner outdoors (Mocap run photo) record motions used to render an animated runner (Mocap run rendering).
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