Motion capture (mocap) records how a person moves and turns that movement into digital data. The technology is best known from games and film, but Creative Crowd in Skellefteå, Sweden, also uses it for research and prototyping. One example is health research on long-term back pain, an area where Creative Crowd lists the project Rehab Research – Back Pain among its work. With support from Skellefteå Science City!
What motion capture does
In a motion capture setup, cameras and sensors track markers on a person's body. Software then builds a precise digital model of the movement. Game studios use this to animate characters. Researchers use the same data to measure how people actually move.
Motion capture can register small changes in movement that are not visible to the naked eye. That makes it a useful tool in rehabilitation and health research.
Back pain research in Skellefteå
In a study on long-term back pain carried out at Skellefteå's motion capture test bed, researchers from Karolinska Institutet and Skandinaviska Kiropraktorhögskolan followed the movements of 50 participants. The study compared three treatments: spinal manipulation, medical exercise therapy and open-label placebo, and looked at effects on both movement patterns and pain. The aim is to support more individualised treatment for people with long-term back pain. (Skellefteå Science City press release)
Studio Brunns: mocap and virtual production
Creative Crowd also runs Studio Brunns, a virtual production and motion capture facility north of Stockholm. The studio combines digital environments with real human movement, which can be used for research, prototyping and creative production.
