From Methods to Applications: A Review of Deep 3D Human Motion Capture

Zehai Niu, Ke Lu, Jian Xue, Xiaoyu Qin, Jinbao Wang, Ling Shao

Abstract: Motion capture technology is crucial in various applications like animation, virtual reality and sports analysis. With the development of deep learning methods, significant progress has been experienced in this field, producing cost-effective and user-friendly solutions for various applications. This paper provides a comprehensive review of deep learning-based human motion capture techniques. Our review aims to bridge the gap between academic research and practical applications, providing valuable insights and guidance for researchers and practitioners in deep learning-based human motion capture. Our study puts forth a new application-oriented taxonomy that comprehensively summarises five fundamental routes of motion capture technology. In addition to that, we also delve into the research priorities linked with each route, following the structure of “hardware requirements - technical routes - datasets - evaluation metrics” and extending the necessary criteria for transferring traditional motion capture systems to deep learning-based ones. Meanwhile, for the motion capture technology, the current state of the art is reviewed, the challenges are identified, and the future directions of the research are outlined.