Motion Capture Technology for Entertainment [In the Spotlight]

While special effects designers have been chasing this fantasy for 30 years, this might be the decade that we reach this momentous goal. One of the secret ingredients that will get us there may be motion capture (MoCap), defined as a technology that allows us to record human motion with sensors and to digitally map the motion to computer-generated creatures. MoCap has been both hyped and criticized since people started experimenting with computerized motion-recording devices in the 1970s. Whether reviled by animation purists as a shortcut on exalted as the solution to traditional film and animation shortcomings. MoCap's controversial applications are on the brink of transforming contemporary entertainment.