Sony, motion capture “mocopi” with small sensor and smartphone about 50,000 yen-AV Watch

Sony will release “mocopi”, which allows you to easily capture motion simply by attaching six small sensors with a special band, at the end of January 2023 on Sony’s direct sales site “Sony Store”. The price is 49,500 yen. Prior to the release, reservations will be accepted from mid-December.

Mobile motion capture that can easily track the movement of the whole body with just a sensor and a smartphone app. Thanks to Sony’s proprietary algorithm, it is possible to record whole-body motion using only six sensors, without the need for a camera or studio. In addition to indoors, it can be used outdoors, and it is said that the range of user activities will be expanded, such as creating outdoor location videos.

Dedicated band and clip

Calibration is done with a smartphone app, and after attaching the sensor, enter your height, follow the instructions of the smartphone app, and complete it with just a careful posture and a single step. It becomes a state that can be used smoothly without performing a T-shaped pose.

In addition to creating videos with animated 3D characters using only a smartphone app, it also supports cooperation with external software. In addition to being able to operate avatars by linking with a head-mounted display (HMD) compatible with VRChat, you can also connect to a PC and perform video distribution using 3D character video data.

Supports VRM files. Self-made avatars and free 3D characters can also be imported into the smartphone app and used. The original character “Reinos-chan” is pre-installed in the smartphone app, and in addition to being able to use it as it is, Reinos-chan will also be released as part of the SDK.

The central character is “Reinos-chan”

You can perform lip-syncing by voice recognition using the smartphone’s microphone. Since finger tracking (finger movement) and face tracking (face movement) cannot be performed by itself, cooperation with external services is required.

The services that have been confirmed to work with at the time of release are “VRChat”, “Unity”, “MotionBuilder”, and “Virtual Motion Capture”. Also, from December 15th, we will start providing an SDK that works with Metaverse services and 3D development software, contributing to the development of new services.

The motion data file format is BVH and the frame rate is 50fps. The video data is MP4, the video format is H264 MPEG-4 AVC, the audio is AAC Audio, the resolution is full HD (1,920 x 1,080 dots), and the frame rate is 30fps.

Compatible smartphones are Xperia 5 IV/1 IV/5 III/1 III/5 II/1 II, iPhone 14 Pro Max/14 Pro/14/13 Pro Max/13 Pro/13/12 Pro Max/12 Pro/ 12. Supported OS is Android 11 or later, iOS 15.7.1 or later.

External dimensions/weight per sensor is 32 x 11.6mm (diameter x thickness)/weight is 8g. Equipped with 3Dof accelerometer and angular velocity sensor.

The communication method is Bluetooth 5.2. The maximum communication distance is 10m. Maximum continuous use time is 10 hours. The charging time is about 1.5 hours, and it is charged in the charging case like a completely wireless earphone. The charging port of the case is USB-C.

In addition, it supports IP65/IP68 equivalent dust and water resistance. A headband, wristband, ankle band, and clip are included.