3-D motion capture

Simisola O. Oludare
University of Illinois at Chicago
Clinical Biomechanics and Rehabilitation Lab
soluda2@uic.edu
The problem
• Capturing depth

• Capturing movements which occur in different planes

simultaneously
– Sagittal
– Transverse
– Frontal

• Capturing the motion of the whole body

simultaneously
– Multiple limbs moving in different planes
The solution: multiple camera system

http://technabob.com/blog/2007/08/06/arena-motion-capture-for-the-masses/
Why does it work?
• Perpendicular complements
– Each camera captures a 2D plane
– A single marker position in one of
those planes represents a 2D vector
https://betterexplained.com/articles/
– The cross products of two vectors cross-product/

(from two cameras) results in a 3rd

vector which is perpendicular to the
cross product of the first two
– This third vector determines the
third plane
• Resulting in 3-dimensions
How does it work?
• Calibration
– Defines the plane for each camera
– Determines the origin of the global coordinate
system (and the origin for each plane)
– Determines the limits of the global coordinate
system
• The boundaries up to which the 3rd dimension can be
computed accurately
• At least two cameras can capture the space
– At least two planes intersect
Steps for Calibration(Establishing a 3D capture zone)
• Determine the physical area which you want
to capture
• Adjust the position of the cameras to cover
this area
– Make sure that markers at or near limits of the
capture zone can be seen by at least two cameras
– Preferably, two perpendicular cameras
• Establish an origin point which can be
captured by all cameras
 Motion capture system

Sensor system Transmitting/Receiving Computer software

Time Synchronization (Cortex)

• Cameras • Ethernet cable • 3D computation

• Markers • Ethernet hub • Data recording
• Data interface
Sensor system: cameras and maker set
• Cameras
– Infrared digital cameras sampling at 120 Hz
(samples/second)
– High sampling means lots of noise
• Movement doesn’t have ‘real’ content in all the
frequencies (walking is typically 1Hz)
– Filter noise using a digital filter
• Mathematical function which decomposes the function
• Removes high and low frequency content
Markers and marker set
Markers
• 9.5 mm diameter spheres
• Covered with material
which reflects infrared light
– Retro-reflective tape
Marker set
• Prescribes the placement of
markers
• Defines rigid body segments
Marker set
Distal to proximal:
• Heel: tuberosity of calcaneus
• Toe: 2nd metatarsal phalangeal
joint
• Ankle: Lateral malleolus
• Shank: anterior and mid point
• Knee: lateral femoral condyle
• Thigh: anterior and mid point
• Pelvis: anterior superior iliac
spine
• Sacrum: S2
• Back: inferior left scapula
• Wrist: dorsal aspect and mid
point
• Elbow: lateral humeral epicondyle
• Shoulder: acromion process
Marker set
• To calculate torsion, each segment is defined
by three vectors
Conclusion
• As a user, the most important things:
– Camera positioning
– Origin location
– Marker placement
Additional Readings
• Winter, D. A. (2009) Kinematics, in Biomechanics and Motor Control of Human
Movement, Fourth Edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ, USA.
doi: 10.1002/9780470549148.ch2 and ch4
• Kadaba, M. P., Ramakrishnan, H. K. and Wootten, M. E. (1990), Measurement of
lower extremity kinematics during level walking. J. Orthop. Res., 8: 383–392.
doi:10.1002/jor.1100080310