Qumarion Mannequin - Making 3D CG Models Manipulation Easier Than You Think!
Computer generated 3D modeling has its own limitations, because there are only some kind of postures that can be given to the models. Some postures were outright impossible, while in some dragging made the movements look unnatural. Thus, seeking a solution to this problem, engineers from University of Tsukuba's venture called SoftEther and a venture, ViVienne from The University of Electro-Communications started developing a mannequin full of sensors that will give as an input the pose data to a 3D application in real time. And as you can see from the picture below, they have been quite successful at it.
![[IMG]](proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crazyengineers.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F05%2FQumarion-Mannequin-3D-CG-Modeling.jpg&hash=393f69f65fb72f5daed4d29e10bbb5b5)
The mannequin which is not more than 30cm in height, has in all 32 sensors on 16 of it's joints. Data captured from each joint is transferred to the PC via USB at 120 frames per second. Thus, all that the designers have to do is move the mannequin as needed and the 3D model instantly changes the pose. The design of this mannequin is kept neutral, so you can put it in the pose of both men and women without discomfort. Currently, Qumarion's software is being developed by Celsys, a developer of illustration and comic production software. They plan to release this software along with the mannequin in the next few months. The price will be about US $750. We believe it will be a boon to animation artists as it will make their job a whole lot easier.
See the Qumarion Mannequin in action here:
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