A motion capture suit (or mo-cap suit) is a wearable device that records the body movements of the wearer. Some of these suits also function as

haptic suit A haptic suit (also known as VR suit, tactile suit, gaming suit or haptic vest) is a wearable device Wearable technology is any technology that is designed to be used while worn. Common types of wearable technology include smartwatches and smar ...

History

Introduced in the late 1980s, the Data Suit by

VPL Research VPL Research was one of the first companies that developed and sold virtual reality products. It was founded by computer scientist Jaron Lanier in 1984. "VPL" stood for "Virtual Programming Languages". In 1990, VPL Research filed for bankruptcy an ...

was one of the earliest mo-cap suits in the market. Sensors stitched in the Data Suit were connected by fiber-optic cables to computers that updated the visuals 15 to 30 times a second. The Data Suit was ahead of its time, selling for up to $500,000 for a complete system (along with the EyePhone and the Data Glove).

Current market

Tesla Suit

The Tesla Suit is a mo-cap suit that also uses

neuromuscular electrical stimulation Electrical muscle stimulation (EMS), also known as neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) or electromyostimulation, is the elicitation of muscle contraction using electric impulses. EMS has received an increasing amount of attention in the ...

(NMES) to give the wearer sensations of touch, force and even warmth.

PrioVR

The PrioVR is mo-cap suit which is available in three versions: the Core which comes with 8 sensors for upper body tracking; the Lite with 12 sensors for full body tracking; and the Pro with 17 sensors which adds for precision with the feet, shoulders and hips.

Perception Neuron

Perception Neuron by the Chinese company Noitom uses 9-axis

IMU IMU may refer to: Science and technology * Inertial measurement unit, a device that measures acceleration and rotation, used for example to maneuver modern vehicles including motorcycles, missiles, air- and spacecraft Businesses and organizations ...

to capture the movements of the wearer. It also comes with motion-capturing gloves. Perception Neuron can be used in AltspaceVR.

Smartsuit Pro

The Smartsuit Pro by Danish company

Rokoko Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

uses an array of 19 embedded 9-degrees of freedom (9-DoF) IMU sensors to capture motion date from the person wearing the suit. This data is used to live stream user movement via WiFi, or record data to input into software such as Unity, Unreal Engine 4, or MotionBuilder.

Xsens

At GDC 2016, Xsens announced integration with

Unreal Engine 4 Unreal Engine (UE) is a 3D computer graphics game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter game ''Unreal (1998 video game), Unreal''. Initially developed for Personal computer, PC first-person shooters, i ...

Later that month, Xsens collaborated with Dutch technology company Manus VR in order to showcase an immersive VR experience.

Holosuit

A bi-directional, full body motion controller with haptic feedback, Holosuit comes with a full body suit and can also be used separately as just gloves, jacket or pants.

G5 Mocapsuit

G5 Mocapsuit by AiQ Synertial is a 17-sensor IMU-based motion capture system with an option for 4-sensor 'Pincer Gloves'. Synertial partnered with 'AiQ Smart Clothing' of Taiwan, in 2018, to integrate fabric technology into its suits reducing significant amounts of sensor artefacts.

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...

enabled. Sports Motion capture models use an Android app to manage onboard recording to calibrate 'later' as well as live streams data via

WiFi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wa ...

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limit ...

. Compatible with

Unity (game engine) Unity is a cross-platform game engine developed by Unity Technologies, first announced and released in June 2005 at Apple Worldwide Developers Conference as a Mac OS X game engine. The engine has since been gradually extended to support a varie ...

MotionBuilder MotionBuilder is a 3D character animation software produced by Autodesk. It is used for virtual cinematography, motion capture, and traditional keyframe animation. It was originally named Filmbox when it was first created by Canadian company Kay ...

Tecnomatix Tecnomatix Technologies, Ltd. (formerly NASDAQ: TCNO) is a provider of Manufacturing Process Management and Product lifecycle management software to the electronics, automotive, aerospace and heavy equipment industries, currently owned by Siemens ...

and MocapBeats software plugins. G5 has various 'Cobra' and 'Exo-Glove' options as well as an

HTC Vive VIVE, sometimes referred to as HTC Vive, is a virtual reality brand of HTC Corporation. It consists of hardware like its titular virtual reality headsets and accessories, virtual reality software and services, and initiatives that promote ...

plugin for root positioning inside a 6 x 6 meter capture space.

References

{{Mixed reality Virtual reality Video game accessories Haptic technology