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Xsens body suits are getting even better at motion capture
Motion capturing is becoming more important for games and movies alike, but unless you're ready to shell out for a complicated rig and dedicated studio space, it's incredibly difficult. Xsens has been working to solve that problem for the last decade with its custom body suits, which handle all of the motion capturing work without the need for any external sensors. The one problem with the company's suits so far? Metal -- or anything that can disrupt its embedded magnetometers. But at E3 this week, Xsens showed off the latest version of its software, which no longer gets thrown off by metallic objects.
Motion capture suits can detect lies better by tracking your fidgeting
Stone-cold bad guys don't worry about lie detectors, because they can only suss out fibs 60 percent of the time -- not much better than someone without one. But there's a new hope for cops. Scientists at the University of Cambridge have used full-body motion capture suits to cajole the truth at a much better clip. They put 90 volunteers in $12,000 Xsens mocap suits, and had them lie to other volunteers. By tracking joint displacements, their algorithms could pick three out of four liars -- a much more useful result for law enforcement. One researcher said "put simply, guilty people fidget more... independent of cultural background, cognitive load and anxiety." The team thinks it can fine tune it for even better accuracy, so police may one day be squeezing perps into skin-tight suits rather than finger sensors.
NASA uses smart sandals to stop astronauts cheating their exercise routines
A happy byproduct of zero gravity is an astronaut's ability to totally fake a power-lifting session. (Oh gosh this barbell is so heavy, Houston, do you copy?) Then again, given the rate at which the human body loses bone and muscle strength in a weightless environment, such cheating would almost certainly backfire. NASA has therefore decided equip its space travelers with Xsens ForceShoes, aka smart sandals, to ensure that each crew member is getting their necessary 2.5-hour daily dose on the agency's dedicated Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED). The sandals can wirelessly report back torque and load forces at various points on the wearer's foot -- enough data to monitor whether dead lifts, squats and even bicep curls are being performed wholeheartedly. Then again, we should probably point out that none of this is official. NASA is publicly saying that the deployment of ForceShoes is merely to "validate the technology," and it is unrelated to the recent outbreak of laziness aboard the ISS.
Xsens teases wearable 3D body sensors that won't cost, will track an arm and a leg (video)
When we think of full-body motion capture, we most often associate it with movie-grade equipment that demands a dedicated room, odd-looking suits and a corporate bank account to finance it all. Xsens hints that we may not have to rent a professional studio (or stand in front of a Kinect) to get complete body tracking for personal use. It's planning to show a wearable, 3D-capable tracking system at CES that uses "consumer grade" MEMS sensors to monitor joint positions and movement -- in other words, the kind of technology that might go into a phone's accelerometer, just strapped to our arms and legs. Further details are scarce, although Xsens is pressing for uses in everything from fitness to gaming. We'd like to see partners line up so that there's a product we can buy in a store. Until then, we'll have to make do with the company's skateboard-dominated teaser clip, which you can find after the break.
The Xsens ForceShoe watches your step, helps you walk better
The technology-laden Xsens ForceShoe might better be described as a sandal. However, if you're the type of bipedal perfectionist who wants to analyze your gait using an array of 6DoF force sensors and magnetic trackers (not to mention that cunningly-disguised wireless data transmitter), then the chances are your toenails can also stand a bit of scrutiny. In fact, although the ForceShoe is primarily designed for physio patients, we think its inventors at the University of Twente might just have stumbled upon the next-gen Nike+ accessory we've all been waiting for. Unfortunately they're not on sale, but if you're a researcher looking to measure the orientation, acceleration, angular velocity, force and torque of your feet in three dimensions, you're welcome to hop past the break for the full press release.
