The Japanese company Gree VR Studio plans to use IKinema’s motion capture technology to implement virtual YouTube avatars. What does that mean for content creators and viewers?
The motion capture technology of the developer IKinema works with tracking units of the virtual reality headset HTC Vive and, thanks to the corresponding software in the meantime, represents an inexpensive alternative to conventional MoCap methods. The Japanese media group Gree now wants to take advantage of this to implement virtual YouTube avatars.
Anime YouTuber thanks to motion capturing
The latest craze in Japan is “Virtual YouTubers” – or simply “VTubers”. This is a trend in which the faces of traditional YouTube personalities are replaced by cartoon-like anime avatars.
What looks like an animated manga character in advance is actually the rudimentary real-time transmission of a human face into said drawing style. This is particularly well received by Japanese audiences – and thanks to IKinemas Orion and LiveAction technology, it could turn out to be even more extravagant in the future.
Full body tracking via HTC Vive
The software from IKinema takes advantage of the tracking capabilities of HTC Vive. Head and hand movements can be recorded via HMD and motion controllers, additional Vive trackers bring hips and feet into play – or the Let’s Play live stream.
With his VR studio in Tokyo, Gree also wants to discover new VTuber talents and bring them to the big time. Although the actual charisma of YouTube personalities may play a subordinate role behind an anime avatar, Gree wants to bring out the individual personalities and character traits of his actors in motion capturing.
Gree VR Studio is not the first company to use IKinema’s MoCap process. One of the company’s many well-known customers is the media group Disney, which uses the technology to implement the VR experience Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire in its amusement parks.
What do you think of the artificial YouTube avatars? Would you watch an anime character let’s play? Share your opinion with us in the comments!