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Miku Dances with Real-Time Motion Capture via Kinect

Daily Video: Yū Higuchi, the developer of the MikuMikuDance program that enables s to create dancing videos of Hatsune Miku, posted a video to demonstrate real-time motion capture of dancing via the Kinect sensor. Microsoft released Kinect last month as an add-on to its Xbox 360 console to 3D motion-sensing in games. However, independent programmers soon developed driver software to allow personal computers to connect to the Kinect sensor through the USB port. Crypton Future Media originally created the virtual idol Hatsune Miku to launch its line of Vocaloid vocal song synthesis software.

Last Monday, Higuchi posted a video test of his MikuMikuDance program accepting real-time motion capture data from Kinect, but that earlier test only worked on the upper body. In Sunday's new video, Higuchi demonstrated full-body motion capture to control Miku's dancing. In addition, Higuchi now offers the driver for the Kinect in his free MikuMikuDance program. MikuMikuDance not only creates dancing videos of Miku, but also of other characters with 3D modeling data.